Interview with Maison FRED's Valérie Samuel
The artistic director illuminates her personal and professional relationship with the Maison, the eternal sunshine and brightest jewel of the French Riviera.
“The word ‘radiance’ has never left me. The light of the sun and stones, of course, but also the inner light that shines within each of us,” said Fred Samuel, who founded Maison FRED in 1936. To encounter the origins and inspirations of the “Sunlight Jeweller”, we embarked on a familiarisation trip with visits to its Paris flagship and chic boutiques in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Cannes, alongside an immersive art, culture and lifestyle tour of the French Riviera, cruising and making pit-stops along the breathtaking azure-blue Mediterranean coastline. But it was our chat with Valérie Samuel, Artistic Director and Vice-President of FRED as well as the founder’s granddaughter, that put the finishing touch to our tour about how the Maison has graced the world with its shining presence for almost 90 years. Very soon, jewellery enthusiasts will be able to get up close with Maison FRED’s scintillating jewellery in a new Kuala Lumpur boutique.
What were your fondest memories of your grandfather?
My grandfather was a great man. And I will always remember his kindness, his amazing personality, his generosity. He shared with me a lot of good values to help me go through life.
How did he influence you?
I took the fact that you need to be authentic and be true to who you are to have the possibility of going further, having no limits and boundaries. My motto at work is “Dare the impossible” which I have embraced since very young. It has helped me go much further than perhaps I was expected to go.
Having worked at many jewellery brands, how does it feel to come back to the Maison?
It was very emotional for me to come back although I had always followed FRED’s evolution. It was like going back home [laughs] and a beautiful opportunity to be able to come back and bring back the patrimony and the archives of the Maison to share with a wider audience. Last year, we had the chance to build our first retrospective exhibition, FRED, Joaillier Créateur depuis 1936, following CEO Charles Leung’s influence. It was a fabulous adventure to rebuild the archives and patrimony and to share it with the visitors of the exhibition.
Which part of your grandfather’s legacy do you cherish most?
What drives me every day is his vision and philosophy. When my grandfather established himself in 1936, he defined himself as the “Creative Modern Jeweller” on his first business card and that is the foundation of FRED today. I’m pursuing his vision and philosophy, bringing my sensibility and inspiration to express FRED as the “Sunlight Jeweller”.
What inspires you in your creative process besides the archives?
For me, anything is a source of inspiration. It’s how you transform an image or a colourama into storytelling and a piece of jewellery. You will be surprised how I will take a photo and be inspired, and come back to my team and say, now let’s do a piece of jewellery. For example, how a flower is constructed might inspire me towards the shape of a necklace.
Are you more technical or intuitive?
I’m very intuitive and spontaneous. I’ve been in this field for 25 years so I know the know-how and craftsmanship. It helps me a lot in not having to think about technicity because I know how jewellery is made and how to enhance it with beauty, creativity and audacity. So for me, the technique is at the service of creativity. So in terms of creation, it’s intuitive, spontaneous and personal for me.
Which are your favourite FRED pieces and how would you wear these designs in a day-to-night scenario?
Most of our jewellery is versatile and transformable. The fact that our jewellery is transformable allows you to be very free in how you wear your jewellery, from morning to evening, casual chic to glamour and formal. Personally, I love the current trend to mix and match, and to stack jewellery like today I have three necklaces and it’s creating a look as a way of expressing your personality and mood. It’s interesting to play and create your own look with your jewellery pieces.
How do all of FRED’s designs and collections connect to form a cohesive brand story?
We are the “Sunshine Jeweller” and this is what is conveyed through our creations, based on our DNA — the vision of our founder, the Riviera spirit and also the creative audacity. By pursuing this, you have a design language that is also intuitive which links all our creations. Our iconic collections also have values that resonate with the brand and we say that FRED jewels are a “wink of happiness that illuminates the small and big moments of life” — that’s the promise of getting FRED jewels. Each of our collections also has its storytelling and values, for example, with Force 10, because it’s coming from sports, the message and emotion is to go beyond, have courage and determination; with Chance Infinie, it’s luck and facing destiny; Pretty Woman is about love.
