Today we talk with Marc Larminaux, Lalique Artistic Director and Creative Director.

The name Lalique is associated with the glass art, including perfume bottles and vases. But from the beginning René Lalique started his career with the Jewellery. Rebirth of Lalique Jewellery collections began in 2012. Why did you decide to return to the roots?

When Silvio Denz acquired Lalique in 2008, he was already truly passionate with René Lalique original work. His idea was to keep Lalique a one-of-a-kind brand and preserve its unique know-hows by raising its ability for innovation and preserving its excellence. Naturally, one of his first projects was to bring back jewellery, one of Lalique original crafts.

Do you see the similarities between the first Jewellery collections and the new ones?

Today, Lalique Jewellery still steps in René Lalique’s vision: emotion is at the heart of each Lalique creation, revealing very unique designs which stand out from traditional jewelers’ collections. For Lalique, creation relies in creating unexpected effects, sculpting light and selecting the most suitable materials regardless of their preciousness. Most of our styles are nature-inspired and features an unexpected mix of materials. This is one of Lalique key signature work and we still stand by this approach.

How can you describe the new Lalique Jewellery?

Lalique Jewellery pieces are original and quite exclusive, you won’t find them everywhere. Our creations are mixing white gold with lacquer, diamonds with enamel, sapphires with refined silk and rock crystal… We don’t stand by conventions and always try to challenge ourselves to offer unseen styles inspired by surprising stories.

What does inspire you?

We are lucky enough to have a very rich heritage which is an endless source of inspiration. Original drawings and jewellery pieces from René Lalique are showing his admiration for women, myths, fauna and flora. But they actually show more than themes and motifs that our designers can explore: we actually inherited a singular vision resting upon the will to offer a new kind of jewellery.
This heritage allows Lalique to offer audacious styles inspired by unconventional stories such as great actress Sarah Bernhardt or Russian Ballet founder Serge Diaghilev. Both made groundbreaking impressions on their Art, exactly as René Lalique did with jewellery at the turning of the 19th century.

The opening of the Lalique Jewellery store was in Paris in 2014. How many stores do you have already? Are you planning on opening the new stores?

We now have 50 Lalique boutiques and, of course, we plan on opening new ones but not hundreds. Lalique is an exclusive brand that you won’t see at every corner of every town. It is actually a secular House where René Lalique ambitious vision inspires a true Art de Vivre (our collections feature decorative items, perfumes, jewellery, art, interior design and, since 2015, hospitality). We keep challenging our passion for craftsmanship every day, extending Lalique know-hows and excellence to new territories in line with our identity. Today, I would say that we concentrate more on making the Lalique Art de Vivre a living experience and finding the best way to invite our customers to the Lalique world we designed. Opening new stores is only one of many ways…

Lalique Jewellery has shown already many times the great sales results during different auctions worldwide. Are you planning on having the same success with the new Jewellery collections at the auctions?

René Lalique original work was truly naturalist which was absolutely groundbreaking for his time. Women praised his delicate and realistic designs that he made almost as one-of-a-kind pieces - and very few could actually wear them. But today our jewellery pieces are living a woman’s everyday life and Lalique will is to allow its designs to be worn and enjoyed by women at many occasions. These kind of pieces aren’t made to be sold in auctions or displayed behind windows as untouchable work of art. They are made to live.

A lot of people notice not only the charm of the works of René Lalique, but also they specify the importance in art history and in the innovations of Art Deco. There is also the successful Exhibition of Lalique art. Are you planning on continuing developing such a strategy?

Art is at the heart of our vision at Lalique, it is more than just a strategy. It is very linked to the excellence and passion we invest in each Lalique piece whether a crystal vase, a table, a wine glass, a jewel or a fragrance...
Beyond this approach, we also design exclusive pieces in crystal with renowned artists. Limited Editions and unique pieces are made in collaboration with great artists such as Damien Hirst, Zaha Hadid or Anish Kapoor, who presented a sculpture made in Lalique crystal at Art Basel fair last June.

What can you say about the collection of hair ornaments? Do you produce them now? Are the customers interested in these pieces?

We created a short collection of combs as unique pieces for the historic rebirth of Lalique Jewellery in 2012. It was in fact a tribute to René Lalique inspiring work where hair ornaments were very represented (and also very worn at the time). Today, we have to get more creative to keep this specific part of our heritage. For example, in 2014 the Sun of Gaïa necklace had a detachable motif to be worn as a head band, or the Phoenix comb can be worn as a pendant… It is not the heart of our jewellery collection but we very much like the idea of turning a piece into another to surprise our customers.

What are your next goals?

We have many exciting projects and unfortunately I can’t share them all… but 2018 will be a great year for Lalique, reaching 130 years since its creation. A very beautiful milestone!

Thank you for the interview. We wish you the great success with all the products of Lalique.