Interviews
24 April 2019
A delicate ring with a beautiful turquoise, a necklace with a shell and a small stone or an engraved medal … You already asked a friend of yours who was the designer of the jewel she was wearing because you wanted the same. “It’s pascale monvoisin,” she told you. Since then, you recognize her jewels that all obey the same poetry, this finesse of stones and lines that seem to tell each time a particular story. Creative designer adored by trendy girls as elegant and discreet women, Pascale monvoisin is a universal designer of jewelry. As long as she prefers to reveal her thoughts throughout her creations, she accepted to speak to la grande boutique about her history and her passion for her job.
Pascale Monvoisin. I would say that it may be because I am much more comfortable with staging my work than myself. I’m a very secretive person, I like to be lonely. It’s in my nature, I’m modest. I am not very comfortable to tell about my life, I like to express myself with my hands while making something, I ‘ve always done that. I am more sincere when I do things in the object than in speech. For example, I’m never the one who animates dinners, I love to laugh but I’m not the one who will lead the conversation. I’m in my corner, and I love it.
Pascale Monvoisin. My career is quite atypical, since it’s a total reconversion. In another life, I was a purser on long haul flights for a French airline company and beside that, I painted a lot, I carved, I made objects of all kinds … since I had a lot of free time. I also made jewels that I sold from time to time. When I met my lover, he saw that I was not fulfilled in my work and that on the other hand, I managed to sell my objects easily enough. That was the trigger of everything. I was inhabited by that so he told me to start it as a real job. Very simply, I took a leave without pay, I made a first jewelry collection and after two years I resigned. I never followed any training of any kind, everything I did was based on instinct. I was very inspired by Mapplethorpe when he made his jewelry with feathers, leather cords, that sort of thing. I was guided by that. I took string, leather cords and so on. What I like more than anything is the combination of materials and colors. I started in a corner of my apartment, with a trainee who is now my executive director. The story was knitted like that, without a real plan, without training, learning from mistakes and listening to one’s desires. It was 10 years ago.
Pascale Monvoisin. I think that at the time, I proposed something new on the market, and I think sometimes that this little success is due to the fact that I approached things differently. Initially, I made jewelry that is called “fantasy” so that was not in gold, then quickly I stopped because I realized that technically it was quite limited. I started making some gold jewelry. As I had traveled a lot, especially in the United States I realized that there, they did a lot of 9 carats, and I was the first in Paris to propose that. Today, everyone does it … And it was at that period of time that everything took off. I had the impression of finding an identity, mine to tell the truth. Regarding the stones, chance had made me meet an incredible Indian guy in Jaipur who buys them for me. He is a beautiful stone supplier and as I need a little stock, I just have to ask him what I want and he takes care of everything.
Pascale Monvoisin. Yes they do! I think jewelry defines who wears it. In the same way that clothes can define someone. We see very well right away who we are dealing with through a jewel. It’s said that the habit does not make the monk, but it does, the habit does make the monk! I immediately notice a woman wearing asymmetrical earrings, more ostentatious jewelry, or delicate, more edgy, or classic jewels etc. I think that it defines very well the woman who wears them.
Pascale Monvoisin. I’m told that 20-year-old girls like 55-year-old women can wear my jewelry, and I think it’s great. This means that my jewelry is popular, in the noble sense of the term, and I like it a lot. There is something else that I’ve already been told that I loved, it’s “I do not like jewelry but I like what you do”. I recognize myself well in there. Now that I have a store, I have the chance to see who my clients really are and I would say that they are independent women, who do not need a man to buy them a jewel, they know what they want, and I like that idea a lot too.
Pascale Monvoisin. It’s extremely subjective and I like it to be. I think that one chooses a jewel with a crush, without obligation. Often, my customers are attracted by a stone so they let themselves be guided by that. I believe that the most important thing, whatever the circumstance or the reason of the choice, is that the person appropriates the jewel. I would not be a good salesgirl at all, I’m quite capable of telling someone that a jewel does not fit her! (Laughter)
Pascale Monvoisin. There are many stones that I work a lot in my collections. I like stones that have different colors: for example, labradorite is a stone that I have been working for a very long time. I also like turquoise, it’s my favorite stone. The first jewel I made was a turquoise ring. I also like a lot and more and more the crystal. I like its raw and delicate character at the same time.
Pascale Monvoisin. Without hesitation, the adornment! After all, everybody is allowed to do what they want, but I do not like even the idea of adornment. Symmetry worries me a little … and then the accumulation is not necessarily something of good taste either in my opinion. What is beautiful is the appropriation of the jewelry, as for a silhouette. The most important thing is to be oneself.
Pascale Monvoisin. I do not feel like it. And I love the offsets so much that I find super stylish to wear a big row of turquoise with a sweater in winter. I do not know why we associate this type of stone with the summer and the beach, it is very first degree, it is almost a pity …
Pascale Monvoisin. I don’t think so at all. I have seen incredibly elegant women sometimes without any jewelry, and I find it sublime. Sometimes without jewelry, there is something pure that emerges and that’s enough. I don’t really like the idea of connecting jewelry to femininity. This is not a good link. I think you can be feminine without jewelry, short hair and flat shoes. I do not believe in evidence.
Pascale Monvoisin. In a very simple way I would answer an alliance or a medal. A medal is not necessarily a religious symbol. I like the idea of personalized medal. I think it’s a beautiful jewel that you can not get tired of.
Pascale Monvoisin. Food for soul? A grigi?
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