If you’re in fashion you know Benjamin Seidler and his work. From the illustrations he did, right out of Central Saint Martins, for Suzy Menkes at the International Herald Tribune. For the accessories he designed at Chloé during Gabriela Hearst’s stint there, and the fine jewelry he helps her execute now at her eponymous label. Or else you’ve seen him in the front row at Coach, alongside his young twins River and Vivienne, cheering for his husband, the brand’s creative director, Stuart Vevers. Seidler, who was born in Austria and grew up in Rome, makes a dashing wingman, but with the launch of his new fashion jewelry collection, he now has a starring role.
His debut Seidler collection was born as he and Vevers were expecting their third child Fawn, via a surrogate. But it’s been a long time coming. Hearst says, “this has been a dream of Ben’s for at least the 12 years that I’ve known him. He is a bit of a polymath: an architect by training, who has what I call “H.I” (Human Intelligence). I have a weakness for his brain, he can manipulate me very easily but he is my favorite algorithm.”
It’s true. Though his three young kids are his inspiration for the first offering—there’s the fawn brooch and tassel necklace, a bow barrette for pinning back curls like Vivienne’s and ribbon-like earclips, and a pendant that looks not unlike the toy cars River plays with—he had no shortage of other references to share, whether it was Marie Antoinette’s woven silks, the Lisbon sisters’ 1970s bedroom in Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, or the fine jewelry Elizabeth Taylor had Bulgari make based on the costume pieces she collected from showgirls.
The picture those images conjure is personal, romantic, and playful. “We wanted every piece to have little secrets and stories, the way the best things in life do,” Seidler says. Some of the pieces are reversible. Flip a crystal necklace around and it’s all metal on the other side, “because sometimes we’re in the mood for color, and sometimes we just want to be a little more restrained.” Other pieces are transformable, like the chandelier earrings (pictured top) that can be worn seven different ways.
All of the designs are made in 18k gold-plated or silver and rhodium-plated brass in Florence, Italy, with factories that Seidler since his days at Ralph Lauren and Chloé. He’ll mainly sell direct-to-consumer, but, he says, “I want the experience to be delightful and luxurious and special, and for these things to have value. Prices range from $150, and he’ll ship the pieces in keepsake velvet lined boxes.
Did he get any useful advice from his many fashion friends in the lead-up? “Anna Sui”—Seider interned for her as teenager—“told me that I might feel pressured at times to be more like what’s on the market and feel nervous that I’m not so succinct, but that I should hold firm, because that’s ultimately going to be my strength. And Gabi”—as in Gabriela Hearst—said I should put a little button on my website that says, ‘if you’d like to order this in solid gold, click here.’” So will he? He will indeed.
Shop the Seidler collection here.
Vivienne bow brooch and small bow brooch
Photo: Jeannie Sui Wonders/ Courtesy of Seidler
