AnOther Loves: Prada Jewellery Coloured by Archival References

Much like Elizabeth Taylor before her, Miuccia Prada has her own love-affair with jewellery – an avid collector, witness the extraordinary antique pieces she often wears to bow at the end of her catwalk shows – delicate diamond chandelier earrings, brooches set with great hunks of jade, even a gold chain necklace studded with golf-ball sized lion’s heads by Van Cleef & Arpels. Her fascination with these pieces, of course, extends beyond demonstrations of wealth or mere decoration, neither of which have interested Prada in her design work, nor personal wardrobe. Many are heirloom, sourced from Gioielleria Pennisi, the Milanese antique jewellery shop hunkered under the city’s Grand Hotel on via Manzoni. And as Prada recounted, in the foreword for a book celebrating that store’s historic back-catalogue, “I’m fascinated by the way these objects preciously hold, and somehow communicate not only the history and the flavour of an era, but also the history of those who have worn them.”

So the introduction of a Prada fine jewellery collection in 2022 was a natural extension, a reflection of a deep-seated passion where, through modern creations, traces of the past may be perceived. Jewellery archetypes are simultaneously celebrated and questioned, allusions to ancient forms modernised – in short, the approach of Prada and co-creative director Raf Simons is much the same as within their clothes. That is especially true of the latest fine jewellery offering, the brand’s third, pitched as a bold and unadulterated celebration of colour. Not any colour, but those inherently and intrinsically identifiable within a Prada palette. In a similar fashion to Prada’s celebration of unconventional materials in clothing – the elevation of nylon to luxury, the cutting, perhaps, of a cocktail dress in heavy wool – semi-precious stones are chosen here not for monetary value, but their distinct hues. An amethyst, for instance, glistens in the same purple as a Prada ostrich-leather skirt from 2000; a citrine in a satsuma-y orange that could’ve been pulled from the famed Formica prints of 1996. And then, those colours presented in stark juxtaposition – amethyst alongside chartreuse peridot, the citrine with baby-pink morganite – just as they may be within Prada clothes.

The styles themselves bear markers of Miuccia Prada’s highly refined eye – and, perhaps, a few nods to antique pieces she herself owns. Stones are bold in scale, combining traditional cuts – baguette, pear, emerald – and suiffés settings with the Prada cut, in the brand’s emblematic triangle. Here, that nods to the sharp lines of art deco antecedents, a period also often referenced in Prada clothing – the first era where women were truly liberated, after all. The triangular form sometimes suspends droplet earrings and sometimes disturbing the geometric shape of a line bracelet or rivière necklace. Prada always likes to disturb. There are also simple acts, like earrings where stones on each side have done a switcheroo to deliberately mismatch. As is so often the case with Prada, there’s a distinct disobedience to these jewels – a refusal to play by any rules, bar Prada’s idiosyncratic own, of course. And, like all the best Prada pieces, you can readily imagine Miuccia Prada wearing them herself, making her own history.

Couleur Vivante by Prada Fine Jewellery will be available to order from October.