ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – News
\naktuell – 20 March 2021 – It is with great sadness
\nthat Elsa Peretti’s death yesterday from natural causes was announced by her family
\noffice in Zurich and by the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation. The designer,
\nwho was famous for her creations for high-end US jewelers Tiffany, passed away
\nin a village close to Barcelona, Spain, at the age of 80. Her legacy comprises
\na body of exceptional design work as well as a foundation dedicated to
\nhumanitarian, environmental and conservation causes. A true citizen of the world, her absence will be
\nstrongly felt within all the different circles where she played such an active
\nand creative role. <\/p>\n
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A pioneering designer<\/b><\/p>\n
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Elsa Peretti was born in Florence and educated in
\nRome and Switzerland. She later returned to Rome to pursue a degree in interior
\ndesign. By 1969, she had established herself as a fashion model in New York and
\nBarcelona and was also beginning to design her own jewelry.
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American fashion designer Giorgio di Sant’Angelo
\nused a few of her pieces in a fashion show, where they\u00a0were\u00a0an
\ninstant hit. By the following day, she was the toast of New York. It was during
\nthis period that she met the legendary US fashion designer and seventies icon Halston,
\nwho became her lifelong friend and with whom she collaborated frequently.\u00a0Halston
\nalso introduced Elsa to US jewelers Tiffany & Co. in 1974, with whom she rapidly
\nstarted working in an exclusive collaboration which was to last throughout her
\nentire career. <\/p>\n
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Her inspiration was often drawn from everyday items
\n\u2013 a bean, a bone, an apple could be transformed into cufflinks, bracelets,
\nvases or lighters, scorpions and snakes were turned into appealing necklaces
\nand rings, often in silver which was one of her preferred materials. She
\nherself stated that ‘There is no new design, because good lines and shapes are
\ntimeless’, and indeed her pieces are as modern and wearable today as they ever
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Elsa Peretti’s designs are in the
\npermanent collections of the British Museum in London, England; The
\nMetropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston,
\nMassachusetts; and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. In recognition of
\nher remarkable work, Tiffany established the Elsa Peretti Professorship in
\nJewelry Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, the first endowed
\nprofessorship in the history of FIT. Among other honours, the designer was
\ngiven an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from FIT in 2001. She also
\nreceived the 1971 Coty American Fashion Critics’ Award for Jewelry and the
\nRhode Island School of Design President’s Fellow Award in 1981. In 1996, the
\nCouncil of Fashion Designers of America named her Accessory Designer of the
\nYear.<\/p>\n
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Philanthropic work<\/b><\/p>\n
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Elsa Peretti was renowned for her witty
\ncharm, openness to others, kindness and generosity. She had a deep humanitarian
\ncalling and supported cultural, scientific and
\neducational initiatives as well as committing to the defence of human rights. In
\n2000, she created a charity in honor of her father, the Nando and Elsa Peretti
\nFoundation.<\/s> The Foundation supports a broad range of projects for the promotion
\nof human and civil rights, with a special emphasis on the right to education,
\nchildren’s rights, and women’s rights and dignity.\u00a0Proposals are solicited
\ninternationally, and the Foundation has supported requests from around the
\nworld, including initiatives on behalf of unrepresented people and oppressed
\nminorities, to defend their right to exist and preserve their culture. It also supports
\nmedical and scientific research projects to promote physical and mental health,
\nas well as specific interventions including the building of hospitals and other
\nsanitary facilities. It has funded public awareness campaigns for wildlife
\nconservation and environmental protection, and promotes culture and the arts. The Nando
\nand Elsa Peretti Foundation has financed more than 1,000 non-profit projects in
\nmore than 80 countries, for a total investment of over EUR 56 million.<\/p>\n
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Sant
\nMart\u00ed Vell, her Catalan refuge<\/b><\/p>\n
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The small village
\nof Sant Mart\u00ed Vell\u00a0in Catalonia was always
\nclose to her heart. In 1968, she bought a mustard-yellow house there, which she
\nlovingly restored over the next ten years and which had become her preferred
\nresidency over the past few years. While
\nliving abroad, she subsequently had entire segments of the village restored,
\nacquiring and preserving further buildings including the church, and supporting
\nthe excavation of Roman ruins and the archiving of the village’s
\nhistory. She also established a working vineyard, which has marketed fine wines
\nunder the Eccocivi label since 2008. <\/p>\n
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She promoted
A few things people have said about Elsa
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She is one of the greatest jewelry designers of the 20th century and has
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“Elsa brought
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“She looks at
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“She was the
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“She doesn’t
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“We believe
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“In Japan
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“Elsa brought
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“She’ll
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“All of us at
\nthe\u00a0visual arts<\/a>\u00a0and fostered the consolidation, protection and dissemination of
\nthe historical, artistic, cultural, architectural and craft heritage of
\nCatalonia. In 2013, Elsa Peretti was the first\u00a0non-Catalan<\/a>\u00a0person to be awarded the National Culture
\nAward by the\u00a0National Council for Culture
\nand the Arts<\/a>\u00a0(CoNCA).<\/p>\n
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\nPeretti:<\/i><\/p>\n
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\ntaken us beyond the realm of commercial success into design history. She is a
\nhalo for the entire brand.” – Michael Kowalski former chairman and CEO of
\nTiffany and Co.<\/p>\n
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\nout all these things\u2014the bone bracelet I remember best. Everything was so
\nsensual, so sexy. I just loved it. It was different from anything I’d ever
\nseen, and I’d seen a lot. I’ve only really worn #Peretti jewellery from then
\non.” Liza Minnelli talking about Elsa, Vanity Fair, August 2014.<\/p>\n
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\nthe thing, but she just doesn’t look at it. She touches it, she turns it
\naround, back of it, front of it, side of it. To really get to the object she is
\nlooking at, and that’s what comes through” Hiro talking about Elsa.<\/p>\n
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\nmost unique, most wonderful, most chic woman I had seen for years. With that
\nmen’s hat and that marvelous gait… ” Joe Eula on Elsa – Vogue Italia ,
\n1996.<\/p>\n
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\ncome from one locked culture, it’s all blended. It’s not American, it’s not
\nEurope, it’s not Japanese, it’s Elsa” Hiro on Elsa from “Elsa Peretti 25
\nyears Retrospective” 1999.<\/p>\n
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\nElsa’s work to be a continual testament to the truth that great design transcends
\nfashion, the heart of our company philosophy. She is one of the greatest
\njewellery designers of the 20th century and has taken us beyond the realm of
\ncommercial success into design\u00a0 history. She is a halo for the entire
\nbrand”\u00a0 ” Elsa’s work has a unique instinctive elemental
\nmagnetism. She is a design genius” Michael Kowalski Former CEO of Tiffany
\nand Co from an interview for How to Spend it\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\nthey have an honor bestowed on extraordinary individuals. If we were in Japan,
\nand all over the world, Elsa Peretti would have this honor. She would be
\nconsidered an international living treasure. I am in awe of Elsa \u2013 I always
\nhave been because she possesses the very rare combination of the most
\nindividual chic made even more individual by her simplicity, kindness, and
\nstartling vision. She is a woman who has assisted in creating a new notion of
\nbeauty for the rest.” Ralph Rucci, couturier, Lampoon Magazine, Maggio 2020.<\/p>\n
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\na new intensity, a new commitment, a new passion to our focus of design” Mike
\nKowalski From “Elsa Peretti 25 years Retrospective” 1999.<\/p>\n
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\nnotice someone’s shoes. She notices something in a corner that you know, most
\npeople wouldn’t notice, and she’ll pick up on it and say: “Well isn’t this
\nbeautiful? Look at this” …you know. She makes you see things.” Liz
\nFranceschini, from “Elsa Peretti 25 years Retrospective” 1999.<\/p>\n
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\nTiffany feel a deep sense of loyalty to Elsa and she’s always returned that
\nloyalty.” William Chaney, From “Elsa Peretti 25 years Retrospective” 1999.<\/p>\n