William de Liroby’s fringe necklace
Belgian-born William De Lillo worked for Tiffany, Cartier and Harry Winston in New York before working with Robert F. Clark, former head designer of Miriam Haskell in 1967. An early work by De Lillo. His range, often targeting men and women, included golden dog collars and lanterns worn instead of tie.
De Lillo was inspired by Jean Schlunberger’s finest jewelry and used luxurious materials such as Angel Skin Coral, Turquoise, Pearl, Lapis Lazuli, Rhinestones and Jade. He continued to create catwalk works for our couturiers such as Bill Brass and Norman Norrell, and ultimately caught the eye of high society. For a while he moved to creating exclusive pieces for wealthy women, including this exquisite mogul-inspired beaded fringe necklace. His client list included Barones de Rothschild, Duchess of Windsor and Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1976, Delilo and Clark moved to France, where Delilo was designed for costume jewel pioneers Chanel and Cia Pareli, as well as Nina Rich and Eve St. Laurent.
Courtesy of TashenWendy Gel Pearl and Crystal Wedding Necklace
Wendigel’s route to costume jewelry design was very different from her predecessors.
While working as a songwriter in the early 1970s, she began looking for another creative way to make a living, and came up with the idea of a cuff bracelet “on your arms.” These whimsical pieces, decorated with everything from vintage porcelain figures to fake pearls and crystals, quickly gained popularity.
She designed the catwalk works for Oscar de la Renta and Louis Delrio before signing a deal with Disney and creating a series of comic and character works, including Roger Rabbit of Sachs Fifth Avenue.
Gell’s bold and rude aesthetics were perfectly suited to the 1980s, and her unique pieces were collected by celebrities known for their quirky style choices, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Cher, Liberus, Elton John and Prince.
Costume jewelry by Carol Woolton will be published by Tashen on September 18th.
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Source: BBC Culture – www.bbc.com
