Victoire de Castellane

Family background and early life

Victoire de Castellane was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine into the French aristocratic House of Castellane, tracing back to the 10th century – the family tree includes reigning princes, bishops, generals and noblemen. De Castellane’s great-grand-uncle Boni de Castellane (1867–1932) was a Parisian dandy and legend of the Belle Époque who married American railroad heiress Anna Gould. He was twice elected député (congressperson) of the Basses-Alpes region of France. De Castellane was brought up by her maternal grandmother and her uncle, Gilles Dufour, one of Karl Lagerfeld’s principal assistants, first at Fendi then Chanel.

De Castellane has commented that her love of jewelry making was triggered by watching her paternal grandmother, Silvia Rodriguez de Rivas, Countess de Castilleja de Guzman, "change her baubles to match her different outfits several times a day." Her first jewelry-making feat was accomplished at the age of five when she dismantled a priceless charm-bracelet belonging to her mother in order to make a pair of earrings. At 12, she created her first ring using gold melted down from the religious medals she’d received at her Communion ceremony.

De Castellane's formative years were spent in Paris.

During the early 1980s, Gilles Dufour often took the teenage de Castellane out to famed Parisian nightclubs such as Le Palace where she first experimented with dressing up in playful, flamboyant and ultra-feminine styles, often sporting Mickey Mouse ears or a devil’s horns headband and wearing lingerie on the outside of her clothing.

Chanel (1984-1998)

De Castellane joined Chanel in 1984 where she started as a studio assistant. Creative director Karl Lagerfeld soon asked her to oversee the development of costume jewelry designs. Over the 14 years she worked at Chanel, de Castellane remained a vibrant inspiration for Lagerfeld, bringing her fashion playfulness to the costume jewelry, layering it with cartoon and pop-culture references.

Of de Castellane, Lagerfeld commented, "She follows the rules I like best in life: Don't compare. Don't compete. You look at her. You get the message."

De Castellane sometimes appeared on the Chanel catwalk modelling the house’s collections.

Dior Joaillerie (1998-present)

In January 1998, Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of the world’s largest luxury group LVMH, announced the launch of the Christian Dior brand’s inaugural jewelry division, Dior Joaillerie. In doing so he appointed Victoire de Castellane to become the Dior Fine Jewelry Creator.

Her sources of inspiration include floral and natural motifs, as well as a global mix of pop culture, such as "Technicolor, Alice in Wonderland, Manga characters, the Brothers Grimm, Walt Disney Pictures, Venus Flytraps, Bassett’s Liquorice allsorts, the visual excesses of Bollywood and the darkest depths of the subconscious."

Each year de Castellane creates a High Jewelry collection and at least one Fine Jewelry collection for Dior Joaillerie, as well as numerous one-off, bespoke pieces for individual clients.

Pieces from Dior Joaillerie’s Belladone Island collection were premiered on January 12, 2007 on the online virtual world Second Life. The entire collection was subsequently presented on February 27 in an exhibition in Monet’s Water Lilies room at the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris.

In 2009 de Castellane marked her 10th anniversary at Dior Joaillerie with the Rois et Reines collection. Each of the 20 pieces – 10 kings and 10 queens – featured a three-dimensional skull carved from ornamental and often translucent stones such as chrysolite, chalcedony and jade, then dressed in diamond-encrusted collars and crowns.

As of June 2012, there are 40 Dior Joaillerie stores in 17 different countries.

Exhibitions

In March 2011, de Castellane had her first solo exhibition of personal work at Gagosian Gallery in Paris.

Entitled Fleur d’excès, the show featured a collection of ten one-off pieces with faux-classificatory monikers such as L. Es Delirium Flash, Quo Caïnus Magic Disco and Heroïna Romanticam Dolorosa.

In January and March 2014 "Animalvegetablemineral" the second personal exhibition of unique object by Victoire de Castellane is presented at Gagosian Gallery Davies Street, London & Gagosian Madison Avenue, New York.

"Victoire de Castellane has heard the cry of Mother Nature once again, with a new art-meets-precious-jewerly collection that features moonlight snakes, ultra bright flower blossoms and clusters of flat diamonds meant to mimic water.Her first London show, 'Animalvegetablemineral', opens today at Gagosian Gallery on Davies street in Mayfair, and run through saturday. Next month, it moves to Gagosian on Madison Avenue in New York, where it will be open from March 12 to April 5. Animalvegetablemineral' builds on Fleurs d'excès, de Castellane's collection of undulating, sculptural jewels also inspired by the natural world, which made its debut in Paris in 2011."

Personal life

Victoire de Castellane lives in Paris with her husband Thomas Lenthal, the art director and founder of Paradis magazine. She has three children from a previous marriage with Paul-Emmanuel Reiffersand and a daughter with Lenthal.