Ippolita Jewelry brand, luxury and design shine in Milan
I met artist-designer Ippolita at the inauguration of her new store in the glamorous Via Montenapoleone in Milan. It’s easily seen that she is a woman of great personality and charisma. It was immediately clear to me exactly how full of life and energic she is. A sort of Wonder Woman! Ippolita is true to her name whose origin comes from the Greek mythology: Hyppolita was the Amazonian queen who possessed a magical belt that she was given by her father Ares, the God of war.
United States-based jeweler, with two shops in Chicago and New York, and many more retail spots, Ippolita Rostagno was born in Florence, the daughter of Aldo Rostagno, an Italian theatrical director and writer and American mother who was an artist. After five years of studying sculpture at the Istituto d’Arte in Florence, she soon discovered her love for jewelry in this city famous for fine arts. Her eponymous brand was founded in 1999 when she realized that there was a void in wearable fine jewelry for women who wished to acquire their own jewelry designed by a woman for women. With this new Italian adventure, she has gone back to her Italian roots of which she is very fond. “In this vision Milan is a strategic point, a gateway to Europe” as declared by Alberto D’Agnano, Managing Director for Italy. The newly opened flagship store in Milan was designed in collaboration with her own e-platform Artemest https://artemest.com and features a selection of handmade pieces from Italian craftsmen. It’s a charismatic place in an enchanted courtyard, where art and jewelry meet and live together in perfect harmony.
I had the pleasure to interview her:
“I design for women and I have been following the habits of Italian women and waiting for them to graduate to a place where they can self-purchase comfortably. I decided with all the things that are happening in the world you have to decide to follow your heart and do what you think is right for your own journey. Of course, we started thinking about opening a store in Milano two years ago and finally we are opening. It’s not the perfect time but I feel really hopeful.”
What kind of woman do you address in your collections?
“My ideal customer is aged 35 to 60 because older women feel more comfortable making their own choices. Traditionally jewelry was a gift-oriented purchase, but my jewelry is different because it is purchased almost entirely by women who are economically independent and don’t feel the need to consult their husbands. I think that the time is right and eventually this ease of purchasing for yourself will filter down to younger women as well and so when they get there, there will be something here for them.”
IPPOLITA’s jewels are made by using techniques typical of sculpture. Many shapes are created directly imprinting them on her body and that of other women, by applying wax plates on the hollow between the collarbones, on an elbow or on the forearm. Great importance is given to wearability: the jewels are light and can be worn any time of the day or evening. They are also double-sided jewels, beautiful from whatever side you look at them: irregularities and asymmetry are their characteristics, typical of untreated raw materials. Irregular gemstones always have an unusual facet that reflects light.
Gold and diamonds dominate in the collection, 18-karat gold, defined as “green gold”, lighter than the typical yellow, which suits every skin tone.
Another important aspect is the concept of the open sell. In the store the most part of the jewelry is out. The idea is that the customer can walk up to jewelry, try it on and look at it freely. I would like to conclude with a famous quotation by Harriet Beecher Stowe “Women are the real architects of society”.
Enjoy even more @ ippolita.com
Article edit by Laura Astrologo Porché
Instagram: @journaldesbijoux
