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So, diamonds are a girl's best friend, right? You
may be surprised, even disappointed, to learn that the legendary
sparklers sported by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
were in fact crystal.
In retrospect this seems obvious; Monroe would
hardly have been at her best surrounded by a battalion of armed
guards as she skipped down the stairway in that pink dress. But,
of course, not just any old crystal will do. Monroe's were mined
by Swarovski, a company which in an impressively quiet way has decked
out screen icons from Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina Fair to Grace
Kelly in High Society.
Now the firm has been responsible for Nicole Kidman's
transformation into a glittering cabaret goddess for the film Moulin
Rouge. "What's a 10-minute fashion show compared with the massive
production, the enormous cast, the stars and a whole two hours of
one of the most visually exciting films ever?" asked Nadja Swarovski
on our flight back to London, as she pored over the press coverage
of the world premiere of the film that opened the 54th Cannes festival.
She's right: the sight of the company's crystals shimmering down
a catwalk is one thing, but it can hardly compete with this, the
biggest endorsement of its product imaginable.
Nicole Kidman's character, Satine, is known as the
"Sparkling Diamond". From the moment that she descends from the
ceiling of the Moulin Rouge nightclub on a trapeze in a crystal-encrusted
corset, and spins above a churning sea of crystal-tipped can-can
dancers, to the point at which she emerges in a be-crystalled bikini,
the pulse-racing, relentlessly energetic musical is simply coated
in the stuff. Almost every scene and every surface is illuminated
with crystal: the sensational costumes, the jewellery, the lavishly
kitsch sets - and it's all 100 per cent Swarovski.
Catherine Martin, Moulin Rouge's production
and costume designer (and wife of the film's director, Baz Luhrmann),
is not exaggerating when she says: "Swarovski crystal was one of
the leading players in the making of Moulin Rouge." Nadja
Swarovski's predecessors never thought to capitalise on the publicity
of the legendary films in which their wares appeared. She, however,
is no shrinking violet.
The 31-year-old heiress to the Swarovski squillions
is the driving force behind the 107-year-old family- run business.
Once it was best known for its somewhat tacky crystal animal ornaments
and as a supplier of raw product for binoculars and motorway cats'-eyes
(all of which it still produces). Now, the
operation is a byword for glamour.
Swarovski has become the fashion industry's number
one raw crystal supplier, used by everyone from Ralph Lauren and
Julien Macdonald to Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana and Philip
Treacy. Such high-profile associations have also had a knock-on
effect in more concrete terms. Last year's group sales figures were
approximately £900m.
The UK opening of Moulin Rouge in October
is likely to create an insatiable desire for all things crystal.
The company will need to go into production over-drive to satisfy
all those glittery aspirations. I predict a shiny Christmas, and
an even more sparkling future for Swarovski.
Jewellery images ©Swarovski
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