In a movie-style heist that involved safety vests, mechanical ladders, and electric scooters that has the world hooked, thieves made off with crown jewels worth over $102 million from the Louvre in Paris. Among the missing items (all uninsured due to a combination of reasons) are an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon gifted to his second wife, Marie Louise, as a wedding present; a rather complicated-looking decorative tasselled bow studded with over 2,500 diamonds that belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III; and a blue sapphire set that included a tiara, necklace and earrings (the thieves left behind one earring, accidentally or just to rub the museum’s face in it). The loss goes behind the jewels’ monetary value; we can recognise the exquisite craftsmanship, yes, but they also are a piece of history that now faces the threat of physical dismantling, despite France’s complicated relationship with its erstwhile monarchs. A museum heist is also a cultural loss.
In some welcome news from France, Grace Wales Bonner has been appointed creative director of menswear at Hermès. The Brit designer who played a major role in the Adidas Samba craze from a few years ago, thanks to her sold-out-in-seconds silver foil and leopard-print iterations she created in collaboration with the sportswear brand, can now be relied on to make things interesting at a house that’s been doing fairly well colouring within the margins. To bring it in conversation with the world around. (Wales Bonner’s predecessor, Véronique Nichanian, held the post for 37 years.) This has been a season of big debuts, but we now have another to look forward to.
