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Former Tiffany Designer Now Heading Jewelry at Louis Vuitton
Francesca Amfitheatrof is the Parisian design house’s new artistic director for watches and jewelry.
Francesca Amfitheatrof is the new artistic director, watches and jewelry at Louis Vuitton. (Image courtesy of Louis Vuitton)
New York--Tiffany & Co.’s former design director has found a new home at Louis Vuitton.
The Parisian design house announced Francesca Amfitheatrof’s appointment to artistic director, watches and jewelry this week.
“It is with great excitement that I join Louis Vuitton, a house I feel deeply connected to through its values of craftsmanship and travel,” Amfitheatrof said in a press release announcing her appointment.
The role will entail design of the brand’s jewelry and high jewelry categories and oversight of design in watches, and comes at a time when Louis Vuitton owner LVMH is heavily invested in both.
The luxury goods conglomerate, which also owns Bulgari, Chaumet, Hublot and TAG Heuer among other brands, reported that watch and jewelry sales were up 20 percent in the first quarter this year. In 2017, sales in the division increased 12 percent.
Last year, Louis Vuitton opened a new Parisian flagship on Place Vendôme that features a high jewelry atelier.
Amfitheatrof boasts an impressive set of credentials. She’s designed for British royal jeweler Asprey & Garrard, Chanel, Balenciaga, Fendi and Marni.
She joined Tiffany as design director in 2013, but left the company in 2017 when Reed Krakoff was named chief artistic officer.
The first female design director of the American jewelry house, Amfitheatrof launched the “T” collection and revamped the “Return to Tiffany” offerings during her tenure.
She also designed the Tiffany Blue Book high jewelry collections. Her last Blue Book effort was inspired by Hawaii and included the collar Jessica Biel wore to the 2017 Academy Awards.
Amfitheatrof was born in Japan and has lived in the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia and Italy. In London she graduated from Chelsea Art School, Central Saint Martins School of Art and the Royal College of Art before debuting her first silverware collection at the White Cube gallery in 1993.
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