Las amistades peligrosas

On the eve of the French Revolution, during the opulent reign of Louis XVI, two heartless nobles embark on a duel of seduction from which no one will emerge unscathed. Their machinations, recounted in epistolary form by Choderlos de Laclos (1782) and later embodied by John Malkovich and Glenn Close, are the focus of our offering this season.

A story of power and revenge, of cruelty and manipulation, captured through 24 accessories that represent papiroga's greatest aesthetic challenge to date. Scene by scene, piece by piece, the collection unveils the dark intentions of Viscount Valmont and Marquise de Merteuil, two former lovers, cynical and selfish, driven by an unbridled desire to deceive.

What begins as a provocation, a capricious game, soon turns into a morbid rivalry, a pathological hatred that will sweep away anyone in its destructive spiral: be it the innocent Cécile or her mother, the pious Madame de Volanges; Chevalier Danceny, Madame de Rosemonde, or Présidente de Tourvel, a paragon in her struggle against temptation.

We present here an erotic chronicle, a biting satire of a court buried in secrets, each more scandalous than the last, beneath which, thanks to the unprecedented glow of pearls, shines a dazzling selection of earrings and necklaces, rings and bracelets, majestic and delicate, sensual and dazzling, in an extreme exercise to distill the soul of the Baroque into the purest designs.

Floral, organic motifs, inspired by brocades and courtly tapestries, spring from a color palette that reflects the evolution of the characters as the plot becomes poisoned. Thus, the initial passion of the Marquise de Merteuil will correspond to reds and pinks that will fade into whites and silver once disillusionment cools her fervor. A similar line to that exhibited by Cécile, whose youthful candor we crystalize in bold yet discreet pieces. Madame Tourvel also starts from that placid range until Valmont insists on dyeing her days with the color of lust. And for the latter, prince of libertinism, spirit of depravity, navy blue, so captivating in its challenging darkness.

And behind the intrigues and skirmishes, at the very heart of the story, a ruthless critique of the high aristocracy, decadent and self-absorbed, devoted to appearances and frivolity, in an already vanished world where nothing and no one is what they seem and against which the popular insurrection will rise, inevitable and bloody.