【英语财经】被LVMH并购的女珠宝设计师 Gaia’s theory

Gaia Repossi, 29, is in the lounge of the Chiltern Firehouse, London, describing her decision to sell a minority share of Repossi, the fine jewellery business founded by her great-grandfather in 1920, to the luxury conglomerate LVMH. Speaking in a whisper, just audible over the plinky piano jazz of the hotel’s sound system and no match for the waitress who has grudgingly accepted her order for green tea and the hotel’s enigmatic snack of “carrot blunts”, she cuts a diminutive figure. Dressed in a wardrobe that rotates Cos, Céline, Louis Vuitton and Loewe, with razor-sharp cheekbones and a particularly European type of raw, hollow-eyed beauty, she’s an arresting if subtle presence. It’s a compelling package: she’s built a career on the quiet statement that reverberates loudly.

Born in Turin in 1986, and raised in Monaco, Italy and France, Repossi was only 21 when her father made her creative director of the family business. An archaeology graduate, she studied painting at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and was settled on a career as an artist. Her father lured her, she says, by offering her creative control. “It was the way to bring me in,” she says, “but he was always right next to me, and we are working hand in hand.”

Nine years later, Repossi has transformed the house once famed for its delicate yet rather old-fashioned couture pieces. From the outset, she determined to offer something radically different to the vast, glitzy jewellery houses that dwarf the small Repossi store on the Place Vend?me in Paris. Her jewels are modern, deceptively simple and design-led, all inspired by architecture, art, and “anthropological details”.

“Normally you find a stone and try to work around it,” she explains. “But it’s the shape that comes first for me. It’s quite a systematic approach: not unlike an architect. I see the body as a structure to build around.”

Her design is often described as minimal but it’s an ill-fitting word for pieces like her dramatic Serti Sur Vide 18-carat white gold cuff encrusted with diamonds (￡38,430), or her use of vivid colour, like the bright pink rhodium-dipped gold that features in her “fuchsia” designs. “I think it’s more about balance than minimalism,” she says. “It’s about the woman’s body, and her hand and the proportions. Whether something makes sense.”

Repossi’s jewels have a specific identity and a fast growing clientele. An early hit, an earring from her Berbere collection that cuffed the upper ear like a tribal piercing and spawned a thousand imitations. Subsequent collections have included Antifer, which features jagged stacked rings that can be worn all over the fingers, and White Noise — cuffs and chokers that wiggle around the body like manic radio waves. The jewels of choice for actresses demonstrating their more outré fashion credentials on the red carpet, Repossi has built a cult following around the brand; a following that has been further helped by the designer’s emergence as a street style star and fashion plate.

There are currently two Repossi flagship stores and the brand has outlets in key sales points such as Harrods and Dover Street Market as well as a strong online presence. But the house is still a minnow in the world of fine jewellery. Repossi doesn’t disclose figures, but according to Luca Solca, managing director and sector head of global luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas, they turn over a “maximum of ￠50m per year, and more realistically no more than ￠20m”. It’s a situation that is poised to change. “I wasn’t really looking for investment,” says Repossi of the deal with LVMH, which was announced on November 30. “But the company had been facing demand that was outstripping our ability to produce. We realised that, with an injection of power that didn’t strip out the family DNA, we would be able to respond to that.

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今年芳龄29岁的盖娅?雷波西(Gaia Repossi)坐在伦敦Chiltern Firehouse餐厅的酒吧，讲述她向奢侈品巨擎路威酩轩(LVMH)出售Repossi少量股权的始末。

雷波西这一高端珠宝首饰品牌由其曾祖父于1920年创立。她说话轻声细语，在酒吧音响系统播放的背景钢琴爵士乐的影响下，只能勉强听见，甚至都比不上服务员的嘟囔声和享用酒店神秘小吃“carrot blunts”发出的声响。服务员过来取只点了绿茶的订单时，显得很不情愿。她所穿行头都是名牌，不是Cos、赛琳(Céline)、路易威登(Louis Vuitton)，就是罗意威(Loewe)；她颧骨线条明显，一副典型的欧洲美人胚模样——眼窝凹陷、天生丽质，外表尽管难以捉摸，但又异常引人注目。她是个让人欲罢不能的尤物：职业生涯尽管不显山露水、但又石破天惊。

她1986年出生于都灵，在摩纳哥、意大利以及法国长大成人。雷波西21岁那年，其父任命她为家族企业的创意总监。考古专业毕业后，她赴巴黎高等美术学院(Beaux-Arts in Paris)学习绘画，由此开启了自己的设计生涯。她说父亲把创意的生杀大权交给她，让她“中招”。“正是这招让我‘上了贼船’。”她说，“但他一直站在我身边，我俩一起共同奋斗。”

九年后，雷波西让这家曾以精致但颇为守旧的著名高档首饰品牌改头换面。她从一开始就打定决心要另辟蹊径，要与那些大门面的高档首饰品牌一比高下，这些大品牌让位于巴黎旺多姆广场(Place Vend?me)的雷波西小专卖店显得相形见绌。她设计的首饰现代感十足、看似简单却设计精巧，所有设计灵感都来自建筑、艺术以及“人类学的详细资料”。

“通常说来，找到一块籽石料后，我会想方设法进行打造。”她解释道，“但我首先在意的是其外形，这属于系统研究法：与建筑大同小异。我把籽料看成结构体，然后在此基础上着手进行设计。”

她的设计常被归入极简主义范畴，但对于她用18克拉人造白金打造的Serti Sur Vide钻石镶嵌手镯（售价38430英镑）以及运用艳丽颜色设计的首饰（如她在fuchsia系列首饰中采用镀铑的绯红色黄金）来说，如此称谓显然极不合适。“我认为与其说是极简主义的设计风格，倒不如说是相互协调。”她说，“它综合考虑女性的体型、双手以及整体比例。不管怎样，合情合理才是根本。”

雷波西设计的首饰具有与众不同的特征，客户群急剧增加。她早期推出的一款耳环（来自其设计的Berbere系列）异常抢手，像部落穿耳式装饰物那样挂在耳垂处，并且模仿者如云。她随后推出的系列包括了适合各种手指类型的锯齿形层叠戒指Antifer以及犹如狂躁型电波绕躯体的多款手镯与贴颈项链组成的White Noise系列。专为女明星打造的精致首饰可以让其在红地毯上展现出异乎寻常的时尚风格。雷波西因此有了自己品牌的一大批忠实拥趸，而她本人又是集都市街头时尚明星与时尚达人于一身，反过来又起了推波助澜的作用。

目前雷波西开有两家旗舰店，除了网店外，还在哈罗德(Harrods)以及多佛街集市(Dover Street Market)等大型零售店设立了销售专柜。但在高档首饰界，它仍是无足轻重的小角色。雷波西并未透露具体销售数据，但据法国巴黎银行证券部(Exane BNP Paribas)常务董事、全球奢侈品行业部主管卢卡?索尔卡(Luca Solca)统计，雷波西的年销售额“最高不超过5000万欧元，更可信的销售额是2000万欧元”。如今的时代瞬息万变。“我不是真的急需外来投资。”雷波西这样评价与路威酩轩的交易。路威酩轩的参股消息于11月30日公布。“但公司产品一直供不应求，生产能力捉襟见肘。我们当时意识到：在不改变家族企业特色与风格的前提下引入外来力量，我们就能成功解决这一棘手问题。”

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