Soft POWER

Boucheron's creative director Claire Choisne explains her latest high jewellery collection, which plays inventively with ceremonial trappings.

- GORDON NG

Trompe l’oeil is the art of illusion, the delight of a double take. In jewellery, the challenge of illusion is often to give its hard, fundamental materials— precious metals and stones—layers of softness. For the Parisian maison Boucheron, that was exactly the challenge that it strove to meet with The Power of Couture, its latest collection of high jewellery.

Inspired by the accoutrements of ceremonial attire, the 24-piece collection casts details such as bows, buttons, collars, epaulettes and aiguillettes as jewellery. “I knew at the beginning that it would be almost a nightmare technically,” says Claire Choisne, the house’s creative director, of transmuting metal and stones into fabric. “But I loved the idea of giving the illusion.”

The relationship between the house and textiles comes directly from its founder Frédéric Boucheron. Unlike many jewellery dynasties, Frédéric’s father was a draper who worked with silks, laces and other delicate fabrics. That legacy made itself apparent in many of his designs and creations—pieces that Choisne encountered repeatedly when delving into the archives for research. “I imagine there is a link between Frédéric Boucheron being the son of a draper and the quantity of pieces around the theme of couture. There are plenty,” she says.