Katrantzou’s reference to Bulgari dates to 2019, when the Italian jewellery firm loaned her its valuable necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for a vogue present she staged on the monumental Temple of Poseidon in Athens. Cate Blanchett wore a sensational jeweled bodice robe from the gathering that matched her blond hair to the 2020 Golden Globes. The connection between Katrantzou and the Roman model deepened in 2021 when she designed a capsule assortment of leather-based purses and jeweled minaudières impressed by the home’s well-known Serpenti motif.
However her affinity for Bulgari goes a lot additional again. Like Katrantzou, the corporate’s founder Sotirio Bulgari was Greek. She remembers a espresso desk guide on the historical past of the home (her mom was an inside designer with a wealthy library) and he or she acquired a Bulgari watch from her father as a highschool commencement current. “Mary’s arrival makes us very proud,” mentioned Jean-Christophe Babin, the corporate’s CEO, in an announcement. “She shares with Bulgari not solely the Greek origins, however above all of the seek for excellence within the selection of supplies, the way in which during which they’re remodeled with a specific emphasis on craftsmanship and a passionate love for colours.”
Initially of the pandemic, Katrantzou relocated from London to Athens, the place she had a child boy, who’s now two-and-a-half. Her new job can have her shuttling between her homebase and Bulgari’s design ateliers in Florence and places of work in Rome, and he or she’ll proceed to handle her personal enterprise, which is headquartered in London. (The Hellenic Olympic Committee additionally not too long ago revealed the costumes she designed for the Olympic Torch lighting and handover ceremony to happen in Paris in July.) “It’s a brand new chapter, and being round a very completely different tradition than my very own firm has been so inspiring. The velocity with which an thought might be realized and a prototype might be made is extraordinarily rewarding for any artistic.” She continues: “Andy Warhol mentioned, ‘after I’m in Rome, I at all times go to Bulgari as a result of it’s like visiting the perfect modern artwork exhibition.’ There’s simply a lot potential right here.”
Mary Katrantzou’s first items for Bulgari will arrive in shops in August of this yr.
