BASKING IN THE LIGHT

In Thailand's City of Angels, Maison FRED celebrated its latest high jewellery creations with a grand gala dinner. Right after the fête, Valérie Samuel - FRED's Artistic Director and Vice President, and granddaughter of the house's founder - shone the light on the beaming pieces of the Monsieur Fred Inner Light collection

- IAN LEE

All the notable Thai celebrity names under the FRED sun gathered one evening in early January to celebrate the house's recent entry into the City of Angels. At a gala dinner with over 100 guests, which included stars like Dew Jirawat, Mew Suppasit and Bow Maylada, the Maison took the opportunity to present its Monsieur Fred Inner Light collection of high jewellery pieces with a model show - all so that attendees could bathe in the inner light and radiant spirit of the house's founder, Fred Samuel. The very next morning, FRED's Artistic Director and Vice President, and the granddaughter of the Maison's founder, Valérie Samuel spoke to L'OFFICIEL SINGAPORE about the unique facets and intricacies of the collection.

Hi Valérie! What defines the Monsieur Fred Inner Light collection, and what makes it special?

It's a collection that is very dear to my heart. It was first launched during the time of our first retrospective exhibition in Paris, in 2022, and we really wanted to express the unique personality of [our founder] Fred Samuel with this collection, which is a unique theme for a high jewellery collection. There are six chapters, and each of them expresses one of the facets of the unique personality of Monsieur Fred - audacity, joy, courage, facing destiny, solar energy. So it is quite a unique collection in that sense. And it's also a very intimate and personal collection each of the chapters has a specific mantra that is also "engraved" on the pieces as a small secret message. My idea is that the person who will wear the piece will get a little bit of the spirit of Monsieur Fred, and it's an intimate message because you can keep it for yourself or you can share it it's not obvious. I think that adds a little bit more personality [to the pieces].