COUTURE HOUSES OFTEN use their own high jewelry for their runway shows. But when they don’t produce their own lines, they often reach out to some of the most renowned jewelry houses. For example Giambattista Valli has called upon Buccellati for at least two of the house’s couture shows. This season, in his final show before moving to Gucci, Demna — Balenciaga’s creative director for the past decade — closed the Paris Couture presentation with an unprecedented finale: 11 pieces of Lorraine Schwartz jewels (totaling 1000-carats) complementing the fashion. The most outstanding look was Kim Kardashian walking the runway in a slipdress that echoed Elizabeth Taylor in her role as Maggie the Cat in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
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The jewels were a mix of two custom-designed diamond necklaces and Taylor’s earrings that Schwartz purchased from Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in December 2011. She reportedly added them to her personal collection.
The girandole-style earrings, featuring three round-cut diamond drops suspended from a diamond-encrusted garland-inspired openwork design, were a gift from Taylor’s third husband, Mike Todd, who famously showered her with extraordinary jewels. But these had a particularly unique story behind them. While in Paris, Todd bought Taylor a pair of beautiful antique paste chandelier earrings she had admired in a shop on Place Vendôme. A couple of months later, when they were back in New York, Taylor said they felt different on her ears. Ever eager to dazzle her, Todd secretly had them recreated with real diamonds. After his tragic death in 1958, Taylor continued to wear them to events for years.
These are the earrings that went up for auction, were purchased by Schwartz, and later were worn by Kardashian during the Balenciaga show.
Balenciaga has been a favorite house of Kardashian, who has also long been a huge fan of Taylor, so much so that she served as an executive producer for a three-part BBC documentary series about the iconic star.
