Pierre Hardy would have made a dress entirely out of diamonds if he could. Instead, the creative director of jewellery at Hermès compromised on a harness – a mesh of gold and pavé diamonds that hugs the neck and chest like armour, before looping around the back and fastening with a buckle at the waist.
“In the time we had, and the moment we had, this was the maximum we could do,” says Hardy of the desire to create a piece of jewellery that could act like a second skin. “The materials – the metal and the stones, which are the least flexible material you can work with – you can mould them, you can fold them, but it’s not easy.”
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