The gifted jeweler, who is also the creative director of Dior's division - Dior Joaillerie, continues to create and delight many with his exquisite works. Here's what you need to know about the designer and her work with the French fashion house.
The first stepsVictoire de Castellan was born on February 2, 1962 in the northern Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine in the old aristocratic Castellan family. From a very young age, she became interested in jewelry thanks to the Egyptian queen Cleopatra and her grandmother. Sylvia Rodriguez de Rivas changed her lavish jewelry several times a day to match her outfits, impressing the future jeweler. Victor's father, Antoine, in turn gave her the first ornament associated with her interest in Cleopatra - a plastic gilded snake-shaped mane with greenish eye stones. Not long after, the girl began her first appearances as a jeweler: at the age of 5 she disassembled her mascot bracelet, turning it into a pair of earrings, and at 12, without asking permission, she melted her mother's gold medallions to cast her first ring.
The family stories of her great-great-uncle, the French politician, nobleman and sophisticated gentleman Bonnie de Castellan, who never went out without his pocket watch, cufflinks and a ring-seal, also leave their mark. In 1984, Victoire found himself in the prestigious fashion house Chanel, where he initially began working as an assistant to Karl Lagerfeld himself. It wasn't long before he noticed her great potential and started developing jewelry for future collections. By the way, Victoire de Castellan has more than once been invited to parade with the clothes of the fashion brand, pretending to be a model. The Frenchwoman left Chanel after 14 years of experience to gain experience elsewhere.
In January 1998, Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of the world's largest luxury group LVMH, announced that the Christian Dior brand would have a new division. This is the jewelry department of Dior Joaillerie, whose first head was Victoire de Castellan. Since then, the jeweler has launched at least one special collection of molds each year, while at the same time accepting orders from individual customers.
Over the years, the talented artist draws ideas from various fields: Japanese manga, cartoon characters, the Brothers Grimm, the characters of Walt Disney, carnivorous plants, the hobbies of Christian Dior, candy, Bollywood, her childhood memories. Victoire de Castellan loves to use many colors that create harmony, so opal is her favorite gemstone. She describes her work at Dior Joaillerie as "joy", and her professional motto is "feel free while creating".
On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Dior Joaillerie, Victoire de Castellan created the Rois et Reines collection. It consists of 20 parts - 10 kings and 10 queens, and is three-dimensional skulls carved from chrysolite, chalcedony and jade, decorated with diamonds. Ten years later, she launched a new collection - "Dior et moi". Subsequently, the division expanded to more than 80 stores, which are scattered among 20 countries around the world. Victoire de Castellan lives in Paris with her husband Thomas Lenthal, founder and creative director of Paradis magazine, with whom they have a daughter. And from his previous marriage to Paul-Emanuel Reifer, he has three sons.
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