Naomi Campbell Closed The Messika High Jewelry Show At PFW While Gigi Hadid Watched Front Row

Original supermodel Naomi Campbell closed the Messika high jewelry show at Paris Fashion Week. She showcased the hero set from the house’s Beyond The Light collection — the Akh-Ba-Ka — its choker totalling 71.5 carats.

Former Messika campaign star Gigi Hadid sat front row — for the record, current face of the brand is Kendall Jenner — and the runway line up featured Victoria’s Secret Angels Taylor Hill, Toni Garrn and Cindy Bruna plus male model and dancer Alton Mason who walked the Balmain runway the previous evening.

The 29 looks from the Messika Beyond The Light High Jewelry collection which premiered during Paris Haute Couture Week in July were styled with adidas sportswear, swimwear and streetwear silhouettes.

The oft midriff baring outfits gave ample opportunity to showcase Messika’s thoroughly contemporary take on high jewelry with its diamond festooned belly chains — also worn front row by Gigi Hadid.

However, founder Valérie Messika’s disruptive approach to the rarified world of high jewelry doesn’t stop at the waist. It also takes in upper arm cuffs and dramatic lip rings — not least a standout version from the collection’s Gold Shield set worn by Taylor Hill.

The runway concept with its sportswear component underscores the unswerving vision the Messika founder has had for her brand from its launch in 2005. “I wanted to make diamond jewelry for everyday that was cool and edgy,” she told me. “I was 25 and I wanted something for myself that felt fresh.”

This is the house’s second runway show. The first, took place in 2021 and featured the 70-piece jewelry collection co-created in collaboration with Kate Moss.

However, in order to become a credible contender in the world of high jewelry, you need a lot more than celebrity endorsement in the shape of Gigi Hadid, Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner and friends.

For the Akh-Ba-Ka hero set showcased by Naomi Campbell, Messika acquired an entire family of 15 stones cut from an 110 carat rough diamond.

“I wanted a strong diamond as an inheritance for the house — a coup de coeur and an audacious gesture,” she told me, explaining that it is rare for a jewelry houses to buy an entire family of stones.

The largest, at 33 carats, formed the centerpiece of the winged scarab design of the Akh-Ba-Ka necklace. The piece was some 1,000 hours in the making.

In addition to access and spending power, Messika also boasts technical expertise. The Beyond The Light collection also features challenging transformable components as pioneered by Van Cleef in 1938 with the Passe-Partout and since deployed by high jewelry houses such as Cartier and Chaumet.

For instance, the structure cradling the 33-carat D and FI classified centerpiece of the Akh-Ba-Ka can be detached from the necklace to become a brooch.

The collection as a whole draws inspiration from Ancient Egypt. “There’s something so special about that period when women were considered equal to men,” says Messika, citing fabled Queen, Cleopatra.

But of course, as evinced by a bare-torsoed Alton Mason, wearing diamonds is not only a woman’s prerogative. Sexual equality cuts both ways.