Stylist Sisters Petra and Meehan Flannery Unveil Capsule With Lab-grown Diamond Jeweler Vrai
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
LONDON — The red carpet has long been a battleground, with big, international jewelry brands vying to get their creations on stars. Now, with the surge in popularity of lab-grown diamonds, there are even more competitors in the space, and one of the biggest is Vrai.
Vrai, which counts Leonardo DiCaprio as one of its investors, is digging deeper in Hollywood, collaborating on a capsule collection with stylists Petra and Meehan Flannery, WWD has learned.
More from WWD
Brand It Like Beckham: Victoria Beckham Sees Sales, EBITDA Rise in Fiscal 2023
FashWire Celebrates Adding Badgley Mischka to Its Fashion App
The collection, Vrai x Petra & Meehan Flannery, is inspired by “California coastal charm” and launches in Vrai stores and online on March 1, with prices ranging from $2,400 to $22,100. The 15 designs feature eight diamond shapes set in recycled solid yellow gold.
Vrai president Mona Akhavi said the collection combines the sisters’ “elevated styling with Vrai’s expertise. The diamonds have been cut for maximum scintillation and brilliance by our craftspeople.”
Vrai is the international retail arm of the Diamond Foundry in San Francisco, which produces, cuts and polishes diamonds with zero carbon emissions at the scale of the big miners.
It produces 3 million carats annually, equivalent to the output of some of the world’s largest diamond mines. The diamonds are created in the U.S., and then cut and polished internationally.
In the past, Vrai has worked on special, bespoke diamond projects, making jewelry in collaboration with Jony Ive, Marc Newson, Dover Street Market, Balmain and Givenchy. It also offers a bespoke diamond engagement ring service.
The Diamond Foundry works with proprietary plasma reactors, which are powered by renewable hydropower to ensure the process is carbon neutral. It produces large, rough diamond blocks, which are later cut and polished just like mined diamonds.
The Flannery sisters have been working with Vrai for years, dressing stars including Reese Witherspoon, Emma Stone, Zoe Saldaña, Renée Zellweger, Claire Danes and Emilia Clarke in the jewelry.
In an interview over email, the sisters said the inspiration behind the collection “was our love of diamonds, gold — and statement pieces. It’s that iconic, retro-chic ease of dressing that California is known for. It’s a less-is-more look. We see this as a versatile collection, worn in elegance, or with denim.”
The Flannerys said they wanted to showcase larger stones “mix unique diamond shapes, and pair them with sculptural designs. We drew from our love of architecture, interiors, shapes and stylish women. Personally, we love to wear the collection stacked together. Doubling rings on a pinkie or stacking the bracelets. They are meant to be worn in a variety of ways, styled with beach attire or a gown.”
They are keen to work with lab-grown diamonds because “we grew up in California, with the land and sea, and it only makes sense we would partner with a brand that has similar values. We have always found their unique shapes of diamonds to be modern and their jewelry designs to be timeless,” they said.
The sisters added their celebrity clients need no convincing to wear lab-grown rocks.
“We think it is all in the quality, design and how they can be worn. We’ve also noticed a movement in sustainability that has definitely been shaking up the red carpet. And we do know lab-grown diamonds have led to better diamond practices,” they said.
Celebrities aren’t the only ones switching camps. According to Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics, the market share held by manmade diamonds overall has surged from 3.5 percent in 2018 to a forecast 16.5 percent in 2023, valued at $14.6 billion.
Best of WWD
