Van Cleef & Arpels Celebrated 50 Years of Its Alhambra Design in Marrakech
Jacques Arpels’ belief in lucky talismans was the inspiration for the iconic Alhambra design, a four-leaf clover set with malachite, onyx, and other stones, that he created 50 years ago for his family’s fine jewelry house. Part of the company’s new ready-to-wear concept, the Alhambra was rooted in the upheaval of the ’60s and the bohemian attitudes and embrace of exoticism that it spawned. The Alhambra proved popular with the likes of Princess Grace of Monaco, Françoise Hardy, Lyn Revson, and many others, who wore it with boho-luxe kaftans and daywear dresses, created by haute couture designers such as Yves Saint Laurent. The continued popularity of the Alhambra has certainly spelled luck for Van Cleef & Arpels. Fittingly, the celebration of its 50th anniversary kicked off in Marrakech, at the sublime Yves Saint Laurent Museum, which houses a number of the designer’s masterworks. Marrakech was the designer’s favorite refuge; he designed many of his collections in his home there; it’s colors, he said, transported him. Here, a peek inside.
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Adorned with cone breasts of wooden beads, this 1967 YSL dress, on view at Van Cleef & Arpels 50th anniversary celebration of its Alhambra design in Marrakech, was a forerunner to Jean-Paul Gauthier’s iconic look for Madonna.
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The dress-up tent was filled with ready-to-wear pieces from the ’60s and ’70s. Pictured here is a rack of Yves Saint Laurent dresses.
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The magnificent Majorelle Garden, with its telltale “Majorelle Blue” Deco walls, urns, and accents, features a memorial to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, who preserved the gardens designed by Jacques Majorelle and later restored them.
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The Majorelle Garden in Marrakech features a memorial to Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.
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Iconic hats by Pierre Cardin in the dress-up tent.
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From the archives: a bracelet of lapis, diamonds, and yellow gold, 1971.
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Interior of a courtyard at the La Mamounia hotel, HQ for the 50th-anniversary celebration.
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Interior of a courtyard at the La Mamounia hotel, HQ for the 50th-anniversary celebration.
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In the dress-up tent in Marrakech, a look by Karl Lagerfeld for Chloé.
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At the French consulate in Marrakech, the Van Cleef celebration continued with a behind-the-scenes tour of the making of an Alhambra piece, courtesy of several craftspeople brought in from Lyon, France, with their tools, workbenches, and exquisite leather catchalls. Here, a craftsperson selects the perfect mother-of-pearl.
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Close-up of beads being used to create an Alhambra piece.
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It was a night of 10,001 lights (likely many more) at the fabled 16th-century El Badi Palace, now restored as a cultural center. Candles lit the way down a long alleyway, which opened into an inner courtyard and then onto a vast walkway of palace ruins, pools, and an orchard, all set aglow in pink by flaming bowls of oil. Dinner by Michelin-starred Parisian chef Yannick Alléno was served in a mirrored dining pavilion that flickered all night long.
