NEW GLASSES: Crystal-maker Baccarat celebrated Paris Fashion Week on Thursday with an event to showcase the creations of 11 designers who have customized its signature Harcourt glass.
Imane Ayissi, Benjamin Benmoyal, Tom Van der Borght, Clara Daguin, Honey F–king Dijon, Kevin Germanier, Mira Mikati, Charles de Vilmorin, Victor Weinsanto, Yoshiki and Jarel Zhang gave their spin to the glass, which marks its 180th anniversary this year, with one-of-a-kind creations that eluded practical considerations in favor of sheer imagination.
Dijon sprayed the glass with metallic paint traditionally used for cars, Mikati covered hers in colorful crochet and Yoshiki added glass tendrils to transform the object into a poisonous flower. Germanier’s version was practically unrecognizable under a pile of multicolored shards meant to evoke a glass exploding.
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“I tried to choose what was most in tune with the moment,” said Laurence Benaïm, the journalist who curated the project. “I chose those that looked deep inside for the somewhat disruptive energy of this period. That’s what fascinated me about their work: that they each express, in a very unique way, something about this period in time and themselves.”
Benaïm noted that several of the designers emerged out of the pandemic. De Vilmorin made his runway debut at Paris Fashion Week this week after founding his brand in an attic room during the first lockdown, while Van der Borght was crowned winner of the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography, seven years after launching his label.
Van der Borght said he was inspired by the outdoors for his glasses, which are embellished with overstock pearls, macramé and hardware from mountaineering gear.
“My work is always a bit between art, fashion and performance, so for me, moving from the body to an object was not a huge step. I was very much inspired by the current times. We have been inside for a very long time, so the idea was really to create something with an idea to go out,” he explained.
“We made this group of four glasses as a kind of collective image with all the different colors to represent the uniqueness of the individual and celebrate differences,” added the designer, who will return to Hyères later this month to present the new collection he worked on with Chanel-owned workshops Lesage and Maison Michel as part of his prize.
Daguin brought a high-tech spin to her contribution. “When I think of a crystal glass, I think of when you put water inside and run your finger around the edge to make the glass ‘sing.’ I wanted to do that, but with light, so there is a sensor inside, and when you touch the edge, it lights up from the bottom,” she said.
The designer, who recently unveiled a connected activewear project with the French Institute of Textile and Clothing, attended the party with several models dressed in her light-up creations. Germanier brought a posse that included Miss Fame, while Ayissi was flanked by muses dressed in fringed creations in the same shade of Baccarat red as the beads decorating his glass.
The pieces will remain on display at the Maison Baccarat in Paris until Nov. 30.
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