OTS - Tiffany's star jewelry designer and philanthropist Elsa Peretti dies in Spain (part 1)
2021. March 22. 08:30
Zurich, 22 March, 2021 (APA/OTS) - It is with great sadness that
Elsa Peretti's death yesterday from natural causes was announced by
her family office in Zurich and by the Nando and Elsa Peretti
Foundation. The designer, who was famous for her creations for
high-end US jewelers Tiffany, passed away in a village close to
Barcelona, Spain, at the age of 80. Her legacy comprises a body of
exceptional design work as well as a foundation dedicated to
humanitarian, environmental and conservation causes. A true citizen
of the world, her absence will be strongly felt within all the
different circles where she played such an active and creative role.
A pioneering designer
Elsa Peretti was born in Florence and educated in Rome and
Switzerland. She later returned to Rome to pursue a degree in
interior design. By 1969, she had established herself as a fashion
model in New York and Barcelona and was also beginning to design
her own jewelry.
American fashion designer Giorgio di Sant'Angelo used a few of
her pieces in a fashion show, where they were an instant hit. By
the following day, she was the toast of New York. It was during
this period that she met the legendary US fashion designer and
seventies icon Halston, who became her lifelong friend and with
whom she collaborated frequently. Halston also introduced Elsa to
US jewelers Tiffany & Co. in 1974, with whom she rapidly started
working in an exclusive collaboration which was to last throughout
her entire career.
Her inspiration was often drawn from everyday items - a bean, a
bone, an apple could be transformed into cufflinks, bracelets,
vases or lighters, scorpions and snakes were turned into appealing
necklaces and rings, often in silver which was one of her preferred
materials. She herself stated that 'There is no new design, because
good lines and shapes are timeless', and indeed her pieces are as
modern and wearable today as they ever were.
Elsa Peretti's designs are in the permanent collections of the
British Museum in London, England; The Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City; the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts;
and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. In recognition of
her remarkable work, Tiffany established the Elsa Peretti
Professorship in Jewelry Design at the Fashion Institute of
Technology, the first endowed professorship in the history of FIT.
Among other honours, the designer was given an honorary Doctor of
Fine Arts degree from FIT in 2001. She also received the 1971 Coty
American Fashion Critics' Award for Jewelry and the Rhode Island
School of Design President's Fellow Award in 1981. In 1996, the
Council of Fashion Designers of America named her Accessory
Designer of the Year.
Philanthropic work
Elsa Peretti was renowned for her witty charm, openness to
others, kindness and generosity. She had a deep humanitarian
calling and supported cultural, scientific and educational
initiatives as well as committing to the defence of human rights.
In 2000, she created a charity in honor of her father, the Nando
and Elsa Peretti Foundation. The Foundation supports a broad range
of projects for the promotion of human and civil rights, with a
special emphasis on the right to education, children's rights, and
women's rights and dignity. Proposals are solicited
internationally, and the Foundation has supported requests from
around the world, including initiatives on behalf of unrepresented
people and oppressed minorities, to defend their right to exist and
preserve their culture. It also supports medical and scientific
research projects to promote physical and mental health, as well as
specific interventions including the building of hospitals and
other sanitary facilities. It has funded public awareness campaigns
for wildlife conservation and environmental protection, and
promotes culture and the arts. The Nando and Elsa Peretti
Foundation has financed more than 1,000 non-profit projects in more
than 80 countries, for a total investment of over EUR 56
million.(continues)