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As male stars shine – literally – on the red carpet, Henrik Lischke delves into the booming men’s jewellery market – and Louis Vuitton’s first range designed specifically for boys
ICYMI, IT’S AWARDS season. Unlock your phone and you’ll be steamrollered by images of gowns, heels and make-up, but also suits, ties and jewellery. Yes, it’s no longer only female attendees grabbing the rocks and our attention on the step-and-repeat. Case in point: Saltburn star Barry Keoghan at this year’s Golden Globes, wearing a custom punk-adjacent Louis Vuitton suit, complete with strings of pearls dangling from his shirt, pants and ears. What could have been controversial attire 10 years ago – think headlines screaming about the ‘boy with the pearl earring’ – now attracts nothing more than exceptionally good engagement on social media.
And where A-listers from Keoghan to Harry Styles lead, regular men are following. ‘Men are being more adventurous and there’s much more space around men’s jewellery,’ says Francesca Amfitheatrof, artistic director of watches and jewellery at Louis Vuitton, of why she’s launching a line of jewellery dedicated pour homme.
‘I love the idea of doing things for men in particular that are just theirs,’ she says. The collection – Les Gastons Vuitton – has been in the making for two years now and was inspired by Gaston Vuitton, grandson of the brand’s founder, and his curious and charismatic character. ‘There was this lightness about him. He was an erudite who travelled and collected – an imaginative thinker,’ she says. ‘There’s this openness to showing your emotional side and to having sensitivity towards others.’
If the term ‘high jewellery’ has you contemplating lavish diamond necklaces and fist-sized cocktail rings, well, you’re not wrong. But this collection sits far from that – visually, at least. Crafted from materials such as blue titanium (Amfitheatrof wanted something ‘fresh that wasn’t black or white metal’), gold and diamonds, there’s an undeniable ease to the collection that wouldn’t even scare off the less culturally robust. ‘I always say it’s like a pair of denim jeans. Everyone owns a pair, right? That’s the intent of this collection, that you can approach it with a lot of ease. And even if you’re a man who doesn’t wear jewellery, you can start to now because it should feel as easy as wearing a pair of jeans.’
It’s a savvy move to launch into a market that’s booming, according to Maxim De Turckheim, the senior buyer for watches and jewellery at men’s retaile
