MILAN — Pomellato is highlighting its revolutionary path with its first exhibition in Paris at the Palais de Tokyo.
Running June 24 to July 20, “Pomellato, Le Joaillier Révolutionnaire” will — through its own photographic archive — visually narrate how the brand since it was founded in 1967 “has embodied a transformation rejecting the conventions of traditional jewelry with bold, joyful creations designed for everyday life,” chief executive officer Sabina Belli said in an exclusive preview interview. “Over the years, the revolution took place in style, craftsmanship, color, imagery and, above all, in the relationship with women in a new dialogue between jewelry and fashion, redefining how femininity could be portrayed.”
The exhibition will display images by the legendary photographers who forged Pomellato’s visual language, from Gian Paolo Barbieri, Helmut Newton and Albert Watson to Horst P. Horst, Lord Snowdon, Javier Vallhonrat and Michel Comte and, for the first time, photos for the brand by Herb Ritts.
Belli enthused about how “potent this photographic language is, framed in a context that is almost Brutalist, the Palais de Tokyo, a major contemporary art center built in 1937 combining modernist architectural style with classical elements.”
Working with photographers of that caliber, the images began to “speak a new and different language, grounded in reality, freedom and modern femininity,” said Belli, describing the exhibition as “not a retrospective, but a living archive: a dialogue between heritage and evolution, paying tribute to the artisans behind the jewels and the women who wear Pomellato. We now take for granted the freedom women have, but planning the exhibition, we realized that it only dates back to basically two generations.”
She praised founder Pino Rabolini, the brand’s late designer Sergio Silvestris, and his successor Vincenzo Castaldo for forging this path.
“I have always admired Pomellato’s bold and forward-thinking decision to entrust the narrative of its jewelry to the greatest masters of photography,” Castaldo said. “Their creative vision, over the years, has captured the brand’s unmistakable identity through images that remain timeless and indelible.”
Pomellato campaign by Helmut Newton, 1982
Helmut Newton Foundation / Trunk
The exhibition is curated by Alba Cappellieri, a professor and head of jewelry design at Milan’s Politecnico, and Belli praised her as “one of the main jewelry experts. An external point of view adds a level of objectivity and detachment that is healthy, as we don’t want to be self-complacent.”
Also, Belli believes that “the immense value of the content requires an intellectual respect of history, and cultural and social phenomena. Being welcomed in such a museum, we have an enormous responsibility, we can’t make the least mistake and Alba’s experience, knowledge and passion for jewelry helped us in enhancing a patrimony of incredible artists and powerful legacy.”
Indeed, Cappellieri contended that Pomellato holds a unique place in the history of Italian jewelry. “In the 1960s, the world of jewelry was deeply traditional, both in its aesthetic language and in its symbolic meanings. Pomellato broke with convention.”
Pomellato campaign by Javier Vallhonrat, 1993
Helmut Newton Foundation / Trunk
Rather than merely tracing a chronological timeline, Cappellieri examined the brand’s transformative, artistic and cultural role.
The exhibition dedicates a section to each of Pomellato’s revolutions, starting with that of image, portraying confident and free women and introducing the intersection of fashion with jewelry, to that of craftsmanship by highlighting the brand’s signature chains that utilize the time-honed goldsmith tradition, as Cappellieri underscored the “high level of technical difficulty” in shaping the chains.
The revolution of style is reflected by Pomellato’s innovative sculptural volumes and tactile surfaces “that engage all the senses,” said the curator, and the revolution of color took place with bold gems in unexpected and unconventional color combinations and through innovative cuts, including the staple Nudo series.
Catherine Deneuve in Pomellato’s campaign by Michel Comte, 1994
Helmut Newton Foundation / Trunk
“The way jewelry was worn and portrayed changed because women changed in the 1970s and 1980s and the exhibition highlights how Pomellato reflected these changes, how women started buying jewels for themselves,” Cappellieri said. “Pomellato understands and decodes the times. Precious jewelry is generally atemporal but Pomellato’s is not, it interprets the times.”
Cappellieri said she was “impressed by Pomellato’s technical revolutions and discoveries of which not enough has been said, for example how the clasps became decorative from being merely functional.”
Finally, the “empowering revolution” is expressed by the Pomellato for Women initiative, the house’s communication and advocacy platform launched in 2017 for its 50th anniversary. The platform aims to raise awareness and drive change around gender equality, committed to challenges such as fighting gender-based violence, and supported by activists including Jane Fonda, among others.
The exhibition opens with an exclusive private viewing on June 23 in Paris, when Pomellato will also unveil its latest high jewelry collection.
