NEW YORK—Determined, beautiful, Renaissance-style women, their hair swept into smooth mohawk-like styles, shower attention on a shirtless man with chiseled features lounging on a table. Solid gold and silver cuff bracelets cover the women’s forearms; extravagant gold and silver belts adorn their waists. An intricate gold eyepiece through which one woman peers totally exemplifies the unleashed creativity of Phillip Gavriel’s latest collection.
The cuffs, belts, and eyepieces are from the Phillip Gavriel Mantis collection, a capsule collection of the designer’s new Privé line. Privé also features striking gold hair pieces, as well as more subtle bracelets, rings, and necklaces that draw their inspiration from the bolder pieces.
The Phillip Gavriel team shot the ads at a neoclassical-style palace in Milan, the Palazzo Serbelloni. It is one of the many glossy spreads that promotes some of the boldest jewelry from Privé in the high-end fashion magazines, including Vogue, Elle, InStyle, and Harper’s Bazaar. The spreads demonstrate just how edgy the Phillip Gavriel aesthetic can be.
Celebrities adore it. Christina Aguilera wore pieces from his rock candy collection on “The Voice,” a golden rutilant quartz ring with citrines cut in an asymmetrical way. Actress Regina King, model Jessica White, and singer Jennifer Hudson, have also worn Phillip Gavriel pieces.
Born to Design
Phillip Gabriel Maroof was literally born into the world of jewelry. His father, Paul Maroof, is the CEO of the Phillip Gavriel parent company, Royal Chain Group. From a young age Gabriel Maroof developed his tastes as he traveled the world with his family, especially soaking up the aesthetic of highly skilled gold artisans in Italy, where he studied. One of his earliest memories is watching his father at a desk in their home counting and organizing pieces of jewelry.
Gabriel Maroof has a very different aesthetic to many jewelry designers, because the collections he produces are so varied and rich. “Many designers out there have a very specific look and a very specific aesthetic, and you either don’t like it or you like it,” he said. “I find that a little bit boring, because as a person my tastes change from day to day.”
