What better way to celebrate International Women's Day than by honoring some of the most iconic women designers in history? Or rather, herstory.
Follow along as we look back on 3 women designers who changed the game and paved the way for women in the fashion & jewelry industry.
Elsa Peretti
Arguably one of the most successful jewelry designers of our time, Elsa Peretti was a fashion favorite beginning in the mid 1970's, during which she made her first deal with Tiffany & Co. Her work alone represented 10% of Tiffany's total sales for years. Her designs are tactile and sensual; just looking at them makes you want to touch them. So many male designers of the time (and still today) created their work while picturing an imaginary woman as their customer. Elsa designed her work for herself, and her unique point of view resonated with jewelry lovers for decades.
Diane von Furstenberg
The story of DVF is one of trial and error. At the age of 27 years old, Diane von Furstenberg, wife of a prince, daughter of a holocaust survivor, found herself on the cover of Newsweek due to the enormous success of her wrap dress designs. Just 2 decades later, demand for the dresses slowed significantly and she lost control of her women pioneered company to licensing deals which she had made years prior. Though her faith in her work was shaken, DVF didn't let this setback stop her from relaunching her brand and taking ownership of her designs once again. After appointing a new board president, it was actually her fine jewelry collaboration with H. Stern that helped to bring her brand back into relevancy in the early 2000s.
Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube
Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube is the most iconic silversmith of the 20th century. Hube strongly felt that jewelry was made to be worn, not to be collected, and so she initially began creating "anti-status jewelry" made from silver wire and crystals. She is the most well known George Jensen designer (besides Jensen himself) and is behind some of Jensen's most famous designs. Her collections have been featured at the Musee des Arts Decoratif, the Museum of Modern Art, the Swedish National Museum, and even in a 45 year retrospective at the Louvre.