Repossi continues its artistic dialogue today unveiling a jewelry tribute collection in collaboration with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation inspired by the artist’s works with a high jewelry approach.
After three-years of research and development, Repossi reveals Gaia Repossi’s jewelry inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe’s jewelry on May 6, 2021. The eight-piece collection will be presented in a first act exclusively through the Dover Street Market stores starting in New York in May, followed by the Los Angeles store in July, and the London store in August before reaching Paris at the Repossi flagship store at Place Vendôme. This collaboration will be extended with seven pieces in a second act in 2022.
“The Mapplethorpe Foundation invited me to create jewelry influenced by the jewelry pieces Robert Mapplethorpe made with beads and found objects early in his career. I was able to access his entire archive of jewelry and jewelry materials at the Getty Research Institute. This collection is a tribute to his genius aesthetic and the beautiful items he assembled.” - Gaia Repossi, Creative Director REPOSSI
Robert Mapplethorpe is an artist longtime admired by Gaia, due to his talent and creativity as seen in his jewelry pieces based on “ready-mades and found objects”. Mapplethorpe’s photograph Puerto Rico, 1981 that hangs in her studio was the first piece of art she acquired and started her photography collection.
Just like Gaia, Mapplethorpe was drawn to create jewelry, first in his childhood, and then later for himself and close friends. Both had the aim to break from traditional jewelry codes by honing their own particular aesthetic. Gaia’s inspirations and perceptiveness to art and architecture extends into contemporary photography which she uses as a communication tool to reinvigorate the image of the brand, having used several of Mapplethorpe’s photos for invitations and cards in the past.
Gaia reinvents his works with the excellence, know-how and craftsmanship of Place Vendôme, but with a new twist. It was important to Gaia to remain as faithful as possible to the spirit of Mapplethorpe’s original creations, including the use of patinated rather than polished gold, creating the most daring collection Gaia Repossi has ever wanted to create.
The intensive research and creative process was informed by Mapplethorpe’s entire body of work where Gaia found inspiration in both New York at the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and in Los Angeles at the Getty Research Institute’s Mapplethorpe Archive. Repossi found inspiration not only in his photographs, but also in his collages, unique artworks, and jewelry in which Mapplethorpe used found objects early in his career. For the Repossi / Robert Mapplethorpe collection Gaia preserved Mapplethorpe’s style and aesthetic, characterized by what she calls “side symmetry”: accumulation and balance of volumes, the play of contrast, as well as key themes Americana, Hardware, the Sacred and Love which can be found in both his early and mature works.
This capsule collection required several exchanges between the ateliers and the studio to solidify and to perfect the pieces for this tribute collection. The collection sums all the facets of the brand’s core lines and applies the techniques they are known for such as repetitive stacking to one of a kind Parisian “maitres d’arts” high-jewelry handmade pieces.
In May 2021, the first phase of the collection will be launched with eight styles divided into six themes, whose names refer directly to the key element of each design: Relic Claw, Triptych Heart, Americana Flag, Chain and Mechanic. The name Jetty, according to Gaia, symbolizes freedom, escape, and abandonment, evoked by its volume and organic shape, which are unique among Repossi designs.