Beauty and BEYOND
Model, muse, esteemed jewellery designer and passionate human rights advocate Elsa Peretti lived a rich life that was filled to the brim with mastery and meaning.
THE NAME ELSA PERETTI is indelibly linked to Tiffany & Co. and the organic, sculptural pieces of jewellery she created for the brand. What you might not know, though, is that she was also a dedicated and steadfast humanitarian. Elsa’s sudden death in her sleep this March, at the age of 80, has left a void for her many friends and colleagues, as well as the design and artistic world more broadly.
She was born into wealth in 1940 (her father founded a major oil company), educated in Rome and Switzerland, and worked as an interior designer in Milan. At 21 she moved to Barcelona, where she began her modelling career, sitting for Dalí and mixing with his artistic coterie. In 1968 she headed to New York, where she navigated her way through the excesses of the late 1960s and 70s as a muse and model for fashion designer Halston, before branching out into jewellery design.
Being tall, exotic and sophisticated meant Elsa soon became a firm favourite of top photographers such as Helmut Newton (his image of Elsa in Halston’s bunny costume is nothing short of iconic). Liza Minnelli and Andy Warhol were among her friends, she was a VIP at Studio 54 and a regular at parties in Halston’s hyper-elegant Paul Rudolph-designed townhouse.
“Halston taught me so much,” she often said. It was, in fact, Halston who in 1974 introduced Elsa to Tiffany
& Co. and, crucially, ensured she held onto the ownership of her name and designs (he had learned this the hard way, famously losing the rights to the Halston name when his business was sold). Elsa brought a “new intensity, a new commitment, a new passion” to Tiffany
& Co., former CEO Michael J. Kowalski said.
She had an innate understanding of what kind of jewellery people wanted, taking this knowledge and creating some of Tiffany & Co.’s best selling and most recognisable pieces. On day one, her ‘Open Heart’ pendant sold out, and her ‘Bone’, ‘Teardrop’ and ‘Bean’ designs continue to be top sellers. In the 1980s, she added ‘objects’ for the home – tableware and silverware – to her repertoire.
Obsessed with craftsmanship and perfection, Elsa was a savvy businesswoman. In 2013, when she considered retiring and taking her designs with her, Tiffany renewed its contract for another 20 years and sweetened the deal with a reported US$47 million, plus royalties that will continue posthumously. Last year, Tiffany started working with Elsa to re-issue archival pieces. The ‘Bone’ cuff (one of her best-known and most-admired pieces, designed in silver more than 50 years ago) was released in new colourways.
Elsa owned many homes – in Tuscany, Rome, Barcelona and New York – but it was the 13th-century Catalan village of Sant Martí Vell that was closest to her heart. In 1968, she bought an old stone house in the largely abandoned village. Gradually, she restored it and other surrounding buildings, including the church where her funeral would be held.
In 2020, as Covid-19 tightened its grip, Elsa retreated to Sant Martí Vell to focus on her humanitarian commitments and the foundation she had created 20 years earlier in honour of her father: the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation. “It is the only thing that gives me hope for mine and everybody’s future,” she said of her foundation and the broad range of projects it supports – cultural, scientific and educational, with an emphasis on human rights, especially for women and children.
Elsa’s passion for art extended beyond jewellery: she loved the theatre and the tiny Teatre Akadèmia she created in Barcelona is something of a jewel itself. Her vision was to modernise theatre and in the months before her death her focus was on ensuring the future of the actors and performing-arts professionals that were hit hard during Spain’s strict Covid-19 lockdowns. “For me, to be a good designer is the simplest thing in the world,” she once told Vogue. “But to be a good human being, that is going to be hard. I’d like to try though.” These are words she truly lived by.
nandoandelsaperettifoundation.org