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We love the idea of carrying only the essentials in our bags this summer. No one wants to be weighed down with a giant tote when it’s 100 degrees outside. This is a season when your accessories should be easy and light. All you really need to get through the day is your iPhone, a chic pair of sunglasses, and your wallet. Toss these in a petite pouchette covered in a discreet logo pattern and you’re ready to hit the office or the beach. Louis Vuitton cleverly put a little whistle on its Monogram Shine clutch, which is fabulous. It’s perfect for signaling the ice cream truck to pull over or for the cabana boy to bring you some water. Logos have come a long way from the oversize, over-the-top labels we used to see. My motto? Keep them at a minimum and make them fun.

 

“I cannot imagine that Belperron’s jewelry isn’t as compelling and revolutionary now as it was in 1932,” said Nicholas Landrigan, the man relaunching the storied brand he fell in love with at twelve when his father (who happens to own Verdura) introduced him to it. “Anyone we take through the archives ends up with an odd sort of crush on her,” he added, referring to the original Parisian designer, Suzanne Belperron. “She was kind of a badass.”

Indeed, Mme Belperron’s rebel nature and avant-garde aesthetic was admired by Elsa Schiaparelli, Colette, Diana Vreeland, and the Duchess of Windsor. A chalcedony, sapphire, and diamond flower brooch or sapphire, peridot, and tourmaline turban ring may look simply elegant and charming today, but back in the fully fledged world of geometric, Art Deco, curvilinear pieces like that were a brutal kickback against conformity. “She was an artist,” continued Landrigan, “and artists have a perversity to want to turn things on their head.”

 

It’s these same groundbreaking bijoux that are being reimagined now by Landrigan and his team. “There are designs we’ll make exactly as the original drawing shows, but others will come in different forms,” he explained. So while Belperron’s favorite, a near-clashing combination of ruby and amethyst, will be apparent in many of the recreations, unethical materials such as elephant tusks will now be replaced with more eco-sensitive options.

“We feel a responsibility to her as stewards of her work,” Landrigan said. “What we hope to bring back is a selection of pieces that she would be proud of.”