Haute joaillerie and haute couture. Sounds like a natural combination, right? Yet, many established luxury brands find it next to impossible to pivot successfully into a new niche apart from the one(s) everyone has come to associate them with. Which is why the second instalment of Caroline’s Couture for Chopard by Caroline Scheufele, Chopard’s co-president and creative/artistic director, is a truly bold and significant move in the world of luxury fashion.
How it started
Caroline’s Couture first debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 with an impressive collection of 50 pieces and was modelled by the likes of Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova and Natalia Vodianova.
If you’re wondering, why fashion? Ms Scheufele has a good answer for you.
Normally, she explains, clothes from high fashion brands like Elie Saab, Dolce & Gabbana, Zuhair Murad and others were used to showcase Chopard’s Red Carpet high jewellery line during the Cannes Festival of which the jewellery brand is a sponsor. “But these dresses are often already full of precious ornaments, where the jewels are drowned out. So I started to imagine models that were less rich in the upper part and with just the right necklines to better show off my adornments,” she says.
Teaming up with Maximiliano Modesti who has been developing embroidery workshops in India including the Kalhath Institute in Lucknow, North India, which is where all of Caroline’s Couture embroidery is crafted, and, working with Fridtjov Linde as Design Director, Caroline brought her dream to life.
And to instant acclaim. “The day after the first show, a queue began to form around the models that had remained on display in the showroom, where we were presenting our Red Carpet jewellery collection. We were totally overwhelmed! It didn’t take long for the first orders to come in.” A few months after, Saks opened a dedicated pop-up for the collection in Palm Beach, bringing “us a new clientele who didn’t even know about Chopard.”
Where Caroline’s Couture is now
It’s been a year since the premier Caroline’s Couture show and Ms Scheufele is back with a slightly larger collection of 77 pieces, including a few men’s silhouettes that are slated to make their runway appearance on May 21. She has also expanded her team of creatives to include milliner Philip Treacy who will create six hats and Parisian fashion house Cifonelli who is handling the menswear with five dinner jacket silhouettes embroidered with rhinestones.
And the pieces are not just about showcasing the Maison’s jewellery and accessories in the best light. They are also a reflection of the Swiss brand’s savoir-faire in the world of haute joaillerie. For example, a long strapless sheath in aqua green is entirely embroidered with flowers and tiny stones. And there is a black suit completely covered in black sequins in a hearts motif emblematic of Chopard jewellery.
Most of the fabrics are developed exclusively for Chopard by the Comes Gentili Mosconi silk manufacturer, while the tweed is supplied by the Reggiani wool manufacturer in Piedmont. The shoes, on the other hand, are courtesy of Casadei.
Caroline is confident that the success of her fashion collection last year isn’t just beginner’s luck, as this second edition will prove. And what’s behind her confidence? Well, the fact that it appears that she has done her homework and knows who her target audience is. In her own words, pivoting to haute couture, for Chopard, “ is good business … If we stay small, it can be profitable. There’s a market for it, especially in the Middle East and India.”
So, will Caroline’s Couture by Chopard succeed where most brands have failed? From all indications, it appears that it is on the right path, and maybe other luxury brands looking to pivot can borrow points from its playbook.