Say it with FLOWERS

MIKA NINAGAWA IS ONE OF JAPAN’S MOST RENOWNED PHOTOGRAPHERS, FAMED FOR HER CHROMATIC WORK WITH FLOWERS. IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, SHE TELLS US HOW SHE COLLABORATED WITH VAN CLEEF & ARPELS TO BRING THEIR LATEST JEWELLERY EXHIBITION TO LIFE

- HILLARY KANG

Flowers have always been an obsession for Japanese photographer Mika Ninagawa. Nothing lasts forever, so I want to preserve that beauty as it appears at a precise moment in time, she says. By photographing flowers, I seek to capture and immortalise their fleeting beauty.

She has a lot in common with French jeweller Van Cleef & Arpels. In the Maison's century-long history, flowers have been a constant motif, appearing on glided imperial crowns and on subtle pendants alike. It's why Ninagawa's latest collaboration with the famed jeweller is nothing short of a cosmic match.

Florae is Van Cleef & Arpels' latest jewellery exhibition celebrating the beauty of flowers. On display from now till November 14 at Hôtel d'Évreux – on Paris' hallowed Place Vendôme – Florae showcases over a hundred pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels' patrimony collection and its contemporary jewellery lines.

Juxtaposed against these immortal creations are surreal works from Ninagawa; otherworldly flowers unfurl their corollas on towering glass walls while Van Cleef & Arpels' creations rest within nearly invisible showcases.