Before talking about “classics”, it is important to understand what a “classic” is. Generally speaking, society at large uses the term “classic” to describe something that “everyone agrees is of a good standard and is of a certain age”. In the English context, “classic” also has two sources, one is “classic”, which means “classical, traditional, first-class”; the other is “canon”, a word derived from the ancient Greek, which is suspected to mean “a standard (text) that cannot be easily supplemented or rewritten”. Compared with the Chinese context, the English context places more emphasis on the integrity and normativity of the classics.
What makes a classic a classic is that it needs to meet three conditions.
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Top quality.
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It cannot be questioned or changed, and has a normative spirit beyond the object itself.
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“The test of time”.
In the jewelry world, for example, the early 20th century was a time of opportunity and change. Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel, the founder of the Chanel brand, rose to prominence in the field of women’s wear with a simple and stylish style. Soon after, the Diamond Society of London invited Mademoiselle Chanel to design in the field of fine jewelry. In 1932, Gabrielle Chanel, the founder of the House of Chanel, launched her groundbreaking “Bijoux de Diamants” diamond jewelry collection.
Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel held an exhibition for this collection, releasing an invitation and an autographed promotional material in front of the social media. The exhibition invitation adopted a modern and fashionable design style, adopting a sans-serif font, showing subtlety and elegance, an exemplary work of its time.
The subtlety of the exhibition format design lies in placing the wax bust of Mademoiselle Chanel in her own makeup and shape in a marble-based glass case standing around, embellishing the diamonds and jewelry directly on the hands – that is, in the position worn by the real person – and using the exhibition lighting to show the optical visual effect of the diamonds, and then using the mirror to form a refraction, as if placing the The diamonds and jewelry are placed in a cosmic environment, echoing the theme of the design.
This subtlety was also captured by Mademoiselle Chanel’s artist friends, allowing us 90 years later the opportunity to understand the creative mystery of the “Bijoux de Diamants” diamond jewelry exhibition.
Purism believes that art begins with a concept and that technology is only a tool at the service of the concept. In a press interview with Mademoiselle Chanel, she talked about her design philosophy.
The idea of creativity first captures the pulse of the times, and also from the title of the interview, this design is a response to the unemployment problem under the Great Depression at that time. During the depression era when the real economy was in decline, the emerging fashion industry was a growth point to stimulate economic development.
The next issue continues to take you into the world of classic jewelry.