Tiffany’s star jewelry designer and philanthropist Elsa Peretti dies in Spain

American fashion designer Giorgio di Sant’Angelo
used a few of her pieces in a fashion show, where they were an
instant hit. By the following day, she was the toast of New York. It was during
this period that she met the legendary US fashion designer and seventies icon Halston,
who became her lifelong friend and with whom she collaborated frequently. Halston
also introduced Elsa to US jewelers Tiffany & Co. in 1974, with whom she rapidly
started working in an exclusive collaboration which was to last throughout her
entire career.

Her inspiration was often drawn from everyday items
– a bean, a bone, an apple could be transformed into cufflinks, bracelets,
vases or lighters, scorpions and snakes were turned into appealing necklaces
and rings, often in silver which was one of her preferred materials. She
herself stated that ‘There is no new design, because good lines and shapes are
timeless’, and indeed her pieces are as modern and wearable today as they ever
were.

Elsa Peretti’s designs are in the
permanent collections of the British Museum in London, England; The
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,
Massachusetts; and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. In recognition of
her remarkable work, Tiffany established the Elsa Peretti Professorship in
Jewelry Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the first endowed
professorship in the history of FIT. Among other honours, the designer was
given an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from FIT in 2001. She also
received the 1971 Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award for Jewelry and the
Rhode Island School of Design President’s Fellow Award in 1981. In 1996, the
Council of Fashion Designers of America named her Accessory Designer of the
Year.

Philanthropic work

Elsa Peretti was renowned for her witty
charm, openness to others, kindness and generosity. She had a deep humanitarian
calling and supported cultural, scientific and
educational initiatives as well as committing to the defence of human rights. In
2000, she created a charity in honor of her father, the Nando and Elsa Peretti
Foundation. The Foundation supports a broad range of projects for the promotion
of human and civil rights, with a special emphasis on the right to education,
children’s rights, and women’s rights and dignity. Proposals are solicited
internationally, and the Foundation has supported requests from around the
world, including initiatives on behalf of unrepresented people and oppressed
minorities, to defend their right to exist and preserve their culture. It also supports
medical and scientific research projects to promote physical and mental health,
as well as specific interventions including the building of hospitals and other
sanitary facilities. It has funded public awareness campaigns for wildlife
conservation and environmental protection, and promotes culture and the arts. The Nando
and Elsa Peretti Foundation has financed more than 1,000 non-profit projects in
more than 80 countries, for a total investment of over EUR 56 million.

Sant
Martí Vell, her Catalan refuge

The small village
of Sant Martí Vell in Catalonia was always
close to her heart. In 1968, she bought a mustard-yellow house there, which she
lovingly restored over the next ten years and which had become her preferred
residency over the past few years. While
living abroad, she subsequently had entire segments of the village restored,
acquiring and preserving further buildings including the church, and supporting
the excavation of Roman ruins and the archiving of the village’s
history. She also established a working vineyard, which has marketed fine wines
under the Eccocivi label since 2008.

She promoted
the visual arts and fostered the consolidation, protection and dissemination of
the historical, artistic, cultural, architectural and craft heritage of
Catalonia. In 2013, Elsa Peretti was the first non-Catalan person to be awarded the National Culture
Award by the National Council for Culture
and the Arts (CoNCA).

A few things people have said about Elsa
Peretti:

She is one of the greatest jewelry designers of the 20th century and has
taken us beyond the realm of commercial success into design history. She is a
halo for the entire brand.” – Michael Kowalski former chairman and CEO of
Tiffany and Co.

“Elsa brought
out all these things—the bone bracelet I remember best. Everything was so
sensual, so sexy. I just loved it. It was different from anything I’d ever
seen, and I’d seen a lot. I’ve only really worn #Peretti jewellery from then
on.” Liza Minnelli talking about Elsa, Vanity Fair, August 2014.

“She looks at
the thing, but she just doesn’t look at it. She touches it, she turns it
around, back of it, front of it, side of it. To really get to the object she is
looking at, and that’s what comes through” Hiro talking about Elsa.

“She was the
most unique, most wonderful, most chic woman I had seen for years. With that
men’s hat and that marvelous gait… ” Joe Eula on Elsa – Vogue Italia ,
1996.

“She doesn’t
come from one locked culture, it’s all blended. It’s not American, it’s not
Europe, it’s not Japanese, it’s Elsa” Hiro on Elsa from “Elsa Peretti 25
years Retrospective” 1999.

“We believe
Elsa’s work to be a continual testament to the truth that great design transcends
fashion, the heart of our company philosophy. She is one of the greatest
jewellery designers of the 20th century and has taken us beyond the realm of
commercial success into design  history. She is a halo for the entire
brand”  ” Elsa’s work has a unique instinctive elemental
magnetism. She is a design genius” Michael Kowalski Former CEO of Tiffany
and Co from an interview for How to Spend it 

“In Japan
they have an honor bestowed on extraordinary individuals. If we were in Japan,
and all over the world, Elsa Peretti would have this honor. She would be
considered an international living treasure. I am in awe of Elsa – I always
have been because she possesses the very rare combination of the most
individual chic made even more individual by her simplicity, kindness, and
startling vision. She is a woman who has assisted in creating a new notion of
beauty for the rest.” Ralph Rucci, couturier, Lampoon Magazine, Maggio 2020.

“Elsa brought
a new intensity, a new commitment, a new passion to our focus of design” Mike
Kowalski From “Elsa Peretti 25 years Retrospective” 1999.

“She’ll
notice someone’s shoes. She notices something in a corner that you know, most
people wouldn’t notice, and she’ll pick up on it and say: “Well isn’t this
beautiful? Look at this” …you know. She makes you see things.” Liz
Franceschini, from “Elsa Peretti 25 years Retrospective” 1999.

“All of us at
Tiffany feel a deep sense of loyalty to Elsa and she’s always returned that
loyalty.” William Chaney, From “Elsa Peretti 25 years Retrospective” 1999.