People
Goossens Paris: gentleman Bijou
Left: jeweler Robert Goossens with son Patrick at their atelier in Paris.
Photo © @goossens_paris. Right: Goossens Paris, Spring-Summer 2018.
Photo © Goossens Paris.
Left: jeweler Robert Goossens with son Patrick at their atelier in Paris.
Photo © @goossens_paris. Right: Goossens Paris, Spring-Summer 2018.
Photo © Goossens Paris.
Goossens Paris, Spring-Summer 2018. Photo © Goossens Paris.
Goossens Paris, Spring-Summer 2018. Photo © Goossens Paris.
Goossens Paris, Spring-Summer 2018. Photo © Goossens Paris.
Goossens Paris, Spring-Summer 2018. Photo © Goossens Paris.
The history of Goossens Paris jewelry brand is connected with a great number of French fashion houses.The French jeweler Robert Goossens, the founder of the Goossens atelier, devoted all his life to jewelry art. His father was a bronze smelter, as a 15-year-old apprentice Goossens crafted snuffboxes for Mellerio and engraved Cartier lighters. At the age of 25 he had mastered practically all jewelry techniques. He could work with any material like metal, stone, leather, rock crystal, ivory, woodworking and enameling.
By this time, “Monsieur Bijou”, as he is called among professionals, has been collaborating with fashion houses like Balenciaga, Schiaparelli, Grès, Rochas; Guerlain, Marc Bohan for Dior, Jean-Louis Scherrer and Sonia Rykiel asked Goossens for jewelry and perfume bottles. In 1953 Robert Goossens was introduced to Gabrielle Chanel. He developed barbaric inspired jewelry for her collections, with antiquity, Byzantium and Egypt elements. These designs can be seen even in current Chanel collections. In 1974 Robert Goossens started designing costume jewelry and other accessories, including limited editions of perfume bottles for Yves Saint Laurent’s couture line. Their association lasted until Saint Laurent closed his couture house in 2002.
In 2005, the Goossens ateliers joined Chanel’s Maisons d’Art. Robert Goossens, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 88, put his skills and passion to the profession to the minds of his children: his son, Patrick, and his daughter, Martine, who oversee the artistic direction of Goossens jewelry and objects, respectively. Goossens Paris collections continue the tradition of jewelry crafting like in the times of working with renowned French fashion houses.
Text: Rimma Ismagilova
