Victoire de Castellane, the designer of Dior Joaillerie, presents her fine jewelry collection on Belladone Island, an imaginary island where belladonna—a toxic plant whose essence was used as eye drops by Italian women during the Renaissance to dilate their pupils (a sign of sexual arousal)—thrives. The plant kingdom inspired the names of the jewels in their collection—plants that were part of an imaginary ancestral herbarium and reminiscent of the magic formulas of bewitching elixirs: Reina Magnifica Sangria, Poisono Misterius Spinella, Fleuro Poisonus Spinella, Paradisea Cur Secretus, Carnivora Fluora Eternita, Dracula Spinella Devorus, Grani Opalia Devorus, Carnivo Papidevorus, Ancolia Veneinosa Pop.
Each of the 17 pieces describes the world in its own way, recounts a story, which secretly imbibes itself with that of the person wearing it. In this collection, Victoire de Castellane’s imagination, freed from the shackles of convention, runs wild and proves its audacity. The first part of the book, designed to represent the extravagant nature of this collection as accurately as possible, is generously illustrated by Guido Mocafico’s photographs. The second part also shows the various phases involved in unveiling this collection, starting from the construction of a lotus-like structure in the virtual world of Second Life, through to the actual presentation in the Nymphéas de Monet hall at the Musée de l’Orangerie.
Published by Steidl, 2007, first edition (Exhibition catalog for the Musée de l'Orangerie)
24 cm 31 cm, 112 pages, in very good condition
ISBN
Victoire de Castellane, the designer of Dior Joaillerie, presents her fine jewelry collection on Belladone Island, an imaginary island where belladonna—a toxic plant whose essence was used as eye drops by Italian women during the Renaissance to dilate their pupils (a sign of sexual arousal)—thrives. The plant kingdom inspired the names of the jewels in their collection—plants that were part of an imaginary ancestral herbarium and reminiscent of the magic formulas of bewitching elixirs: Reina Magnifica Sangria, Poisono Misterius Spinella, Fleuro Poisonus Spinella, Paradisea Cur Secretus, Carnivora Fluora Eternita, Dracula Spinella Devorus, Grani Opalia Devorus, Carnivo Papidevorus, Ancolia Veneinosa Pop.
Each of the 17 pieces describes the world in its own way, recounts a story, which secretly imbibes itself with that of the person wearing it. In this collection, Victoire de Castellane’s imagination, freed from the shackles of convention, runs wild and proves its audacity. The first part of the book, designed to represent the extravagant nature of this collection as accurately as possible, is generously illustrated by Guido Mocafico’s photographs. The second part also shows the various phases involved in unveiling this collection, starting from the construction of a lotus-like structure in the virtual world of Second Life, through to the actual presentation in the Nymphéas de Monet hall at the Musée de l’Orangerie.
Published by Steidl, 2007, first edition (Exhibition catalog for the Musée de l'Orangerie)
24 cm 31 cm, 112 pages, in very good condition
ISBN
