At cult fashion designer Phoebe Philo’s debut solo collection, this sentimental piece of jewellery was the first item to sell out.
It took all of eight minutes for the first product from style soothsayer Phoebe Philo’s debut solo collection to sell out.
But it wasn’t the £2,600 Gig handbag, or
It was, drumroll please, a £3,200 ‘mum necklace’.
This was probably the most unexpected piece in the collection, and not only because Philo is the pioneer of the decadently oversized “quiet luxury” aesthetic. Mum necklaces — and I say this as a proud wearer of one — are so ubiquitous, more than a couple of fashion industry friends have told me they consider them a little naff.
Not in Philo’s hands though. This iteration couldn’t be further from the standard mum necklace formula: usually a delicate gold chain, on which hangs one, two or more initials. Sometimes diamonds are involved, sometimes there’s a bar of script in the style of Sex and the City’s infamous ‘Carrie’ necklace, but it’s usually a lightweight, relatively unobtrusive accessory designed to be worn all the time.
The Princess of Wales wears one, so do the models Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Gigi Hadid, while Beyoncé and the Duchess of Sussex have been seen wearing a necklace bearing the word “Mommy”. They’ve become a visual declaration of love for our children, much as a wedding band represents love for our spouses; trite or not, they’re here to stay.
Philo’s — which was available in sterling silver or gold-plated silver, as well as a bracelet — is the very definition of a statement piece, with the letters ‘M’ and ‘U’ alternated in chunky capitals circling the neck. The ‘MUM MUM MUM’ necklace, as we’ve dubbed it in the office, leaving nobody in any doubt about the wearer’s status — for anyone with a young child, the repeated “Mum” might also evoke a laugh of recognition at the shouts often heard from our offspring as they call for us to read them a book/get out the Playdough/find their PE kit.
It makes the strongest case yet for the “go big or go home” approach to sentimental jewellery, and echoes a wider shift across the industry, away from barely-there delicate pieces, and towards bolder, statement accessories in gold and silver — often layering and mixing both metals too.
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Advertise with NZME.It’s a trend that’s been observed by Sheherazade Goldsmith, co-founder of fine jewellery brand Loquet London, whose signature crystal lockets can be filled with an array of sentimental charms, from birthstones to bulldogs.
“Since Covid, people have become a lot bolder and a lot more playful with their choices,” she says. “Although they want something sentimental, that’s reflective of their families or their children, they also just really want to express themselves. The way people interact with their jewellery is just more confident.”
Roxanne First says her rainbow sapphire and mother of pearl “Mama” necklace is a bestseller — it has a celebrity following too; actor Jamie Dornan gifted one to his wife, and ASAP Rocky bought one for Rihanna. “We launched this more than four years ago and it still resonates so beautifully with our clients,” she says. “Honouring one’s child is a gorgeous thing, it’s so personal and [this necklace] can be worn every day.”
And therein lies the secret to Philo’s success with this design. We love to express what’s important to us in the way that we dress and accessorise, and for most of us, family is a big part of that. We don’t want to whisper that we love our children, or dogs, or cats, or selves, even, we want to make a bigger statement.
Longtime fans of Philo will know that this isn’t her first time at the ‘It’ jewellery rodeo. At Celine, one of her greatest hits were the gold-plated brass letter pendants in a bamboo-inspired script. Second-hand versions continue to sell for upwards of £1,300. If you do have a spare £3,200 for whenever the Mum necklace gets restocked, your investment will probably hold its value.
Of course, that’s not the spirit in which we purchase these pieces. “I think it’s just what makes you smile,” Goldsmith says. “There’s something really sentimental about most jewellery that people wear — at least my jewellery always has some kind of sentimental value to it. And the purpose of me wearing it is that whenever I catch a glimpse of it, whether it’s on my wrist or around my neck, it just makes me smile… I mean, that’s what [Philo’s] clothes do isn’t it? You wear them and they make you feel something. Jewellery’s just the same.”
This story was originally published in The Daily Telegraph.
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