Lunch with jewellery designer Marco Panconesi

Marco Panconesi and I met for lunch on a glorious spring summer’s day in Paris. He kindly invited me for a delicious Italian home cooked meal in his exquisite and most welcoming apartment in the 11th arrondissement.

Surrounded by jewels, precious stones and blossoming flowers, I immediately knew I was in good hands. Whilst the light gleamed in through the large living room windows, Marco and I discussed the importance of the past, the present and of course the future. From his beginnings to making jewellery out of wax when he was young to then working at some of the biggest fashion houses in Paris, Marco now runs his own eponymous independent brand as well as being Design Director for Swarovski. An extremely busy man to say the least but what’s clear is that this designer loves his metier and is wonderfully sculpting out his own path, just the way he wants to. The pure energy and joy that radiates from Marco’s jewellery is remarkable. After all, it’s the little things in life that can bring the biggest success.
JR

Hey Marco, how are you today?
MP

Very good thanks, I just got back from the countryside.
JR

Oh lovely, where did you go?
MP

We were in Le Perche, Normandy. We went with the dog to stay a friend’s place where we worked and went running in the woods.
JR

Very nice!
MP

Exactly!
JR

Are you going to escape Paris for the new confinement?
MP

I am going to stay in Paris, yes. The last lockdown we were away a lot.
JR

So you are originally from Florence, can you tell me about your beginnings, how you got started in jewellery design and why you wanted to make that into a career?
MP

I guess the first approach came from sculptures, I didn’t actually study art at university. I studied chemistry and restoration of cultural heritage. I always had a passion and a hobby for painting and making clay sculptures mostly. So I started by making little objects that looked like jewellery with wax.
JR

How old were you when started making these?
MP

I was in my early twenties maybe a bit before. I would bring these objects to an atelier and have them cast in bronze and that was the first time I approached jewellery making in that sense. After I finished studying chemistry and cultural heritage I went on to study fashion design but in ready to wear clothing with accessories as well. I used to work in a knitwear atelier where everything was handmade and woven. So there I learnt a lot about making things by hand in a different scale rather than ready to wear. That also influenced me into going more towards accessories. My first job when I moved to Paris was with Givenchy when I joined the jewellery design team. That was really my first approach into sketching and working with jewellery. Before it was about exercising my hand.
JR

Yeah, so this is when it really got a lot more precise and detailed?
MP

Exactly.
JR

How did you like growing up in Florence?
MP

I mean it is beautiful, it’a very small city. It’s a museum I guess, everywhere you walk there is so much from the past which influences you and that’s really what I got from growing up there.
JR

Do you still feel inspired when you go back?
MP

Always. Now I go back to the places I loved. It could be the beautiful gardens, there are monumental churches and cemeteries, there is so much history all around and you know the philosophy of my brand is based around rebuilding cults and heritage pieces so I am always inspired by this. I love vintage jewellery and Victorian times, as well as artefacts from the Romans, the Greeks and all around Tuscany.
JR

Is that something you miss the most about Italy, finding these influences from the past? Besides your family of course!
[Laughing]
MP

Hah obviously. Yes you are born with it and then it is part of you. Then moving out of there you have to take your distance. Florence is an ancient city and when I moved away to London and Paris I became somehow detached but when I go back there I look at it differently than I did before. So that’s interesting because then you go back to where you were born with a fresh pair of eyes and incorporate that with your own aesthetic which is beautiful.
JR

I think you always take where you grew up a little bit for granted, and eventually really appreciate it every time you go back.
MP

I think we all do, right. If you are lucky enough to be born somewhere that inspires you, it’s so great.
JR

Do you like living in Paris?
MP

Yeah, I do. I travel a lot, well I used to at least. It’s good to also take breaks from Paris as it can get a bit much but generally yes. At the moment I am thinking where else would I live but I don’t know!
JR

Would you ever want t go back to Italy.
MP

Yeah I am thinking about it. I would like to get a countryside place and base my studio there.
JR

Where about?
MP

I think Tuscany, around the hills for sure. It inspires me a lot and I feel it is calling to me to be in nature. I would say it is convenient because I would be close to the factories. We shouldn’t pick a place just because it’s convenient but that’s part of it I guess!
JR

Yeah but it’s your job so does make sense.
MP

If it wasn’t for convenience I would get a house in Morocco!
JR

That would be dreamy! Do you have any favourite memories of growing up in Italy, the piazza grande?
MP

That’s a beautiful point, especially when you grow up in a place like Florence in Italy, you have beautiful squares where you would find all your friends. Especially when you are young and you start going out alone. We still do that in Florence, we have our favourite bars around the squares and when it’s good weather we are always outside.
JR

Aperitivo!
MP

It’s a very specific appeal to the city!

God, if I managed to get over here without anyone asking any questions, it means this thing is growing without anybody realising.

JR

Speaking of Italy and eating, what are we having for lunch?
MP

Pasta al pomodoro!
JR

A classic! Do you have any favourite dishes?
MP

This is one dish that I crave a lot. Definitely something that is fast to cook, so my favourite in that sense for lunch. I mostly cook at dinner, lunch time is always busy!
JR

Do you cook a lot yourself?
MP

Yeah, whenever I have the time. I love cooking for many people. Big Sunday lunches!
JR

I can imagine you have some lovely big soirées in this apartment.
MP

Yes for sure, it’s a perfect apartment to do it.
JR

You were saying that when you moved to Paris it was for Givenchy then later you worked for Balenciaga. What did you take away from working with such big fashion houses?
MP

Basically I was working in big teams. These French Maisons have such beautiful heritage and archives. So at both Givenchy and Balenciaga we were looking into the past. Getting inspired from the archives and by the founders, which is something beautiful to learn in a French Maison. I also worked with many other houses as after Balenciaga I went free–lance so I started to work in parallel with different Maisons. Then I got the chance to work with difference creative directors which inspires you and teaches you different ways of thinking.
JR

In what way?
MP

So from Ricardo Tisci he was obsessed with research, for example there was always a very specific mood every season. We would look at thousands of images and do vintage research in many different ways. Alexander Wang at Balenciaga liked to work a lot with nature and architectural design references. With Demna, it was all about how to reinterpret things around you and make them different and turn them into luxury. Totally different mind–set. Johnny Coca, at Mulberry, was a former accessory designer so that was interesting for my profession because he has an eye for specific details that most ready to wear designers don’t have.
JR

So do you feel like all these different people prepared you to start your own brand?
MP

Yes so now I have my brand and I am a director at Swarovski as well!
JR

How is that working for Swarovski, is there a lot of freedom?
MP

There is tons of freedom, they just relaunched the brand with a completely different vision. I manage all the different lines that we have from jewellery to eyewear and watches, homeware... everything!
JR

So you can really drive it in your own direction?
MP

Yeah, It is a rebuilding of a brand which is beautiful to be a part of.
JR

And your own SS21 collection is coming out soon right?
MP

It is out in some stores and we are launching my website soon with e–commerce in mid–April.
JR

What’s going on in your SS21 collection?
MP

It was designed while I was in Morocco during the first lockdown, I spent 3 months there.
JR

Yes, I read you got stuck there!?
MP

Yep, it was fun, a bit scary at first with everything going on but very nice.
JR

Yeah, I can imagine.
MP

So it was inspired by nature because we weather staying at friends in a beautiful riad with a lovely terrace and it was 30 degrees, it was so nice. I was looking at flowers and plants all the time.
JR

And colours and the light too.
MP

Yes colours, textures... I wouldn’t say the culture as there was not much to be around or do so definitely the sense of colours, textures and nature was super important. As well as my usual references. I always like to reinterpret cults. For example this collection is particular because I am using a new technique which goes back to the heritage of jewellery in the Victorian times. It’s called ‘en tremblant’. So it’s made with a spring and then I have the stones that you put on top so it moves as you move or however you want it to move, which is particular for this collection.
JR

So interesting, what was the original purpose of this?
MP

It gives the piece more volume and makes it shine from different lights. More vivant! I also have new stones which are in a navette cut. Two stones sliced in half and reassembled together. It’s like a clash of colours and textures in one single piece.

I think the most successful people at the moment are the ones who create spontaneously and who follow their taste and put it out in the world. It’s the ones where you can smell that there is nothing fake about it or how it is constructed.

JR

And the collection is a mix of everything, earrings, rings...
MP

Yep, and necklaces. I never think of gender when designing.
JR

It was in Morocco where you created the whole collection?
MP

Yeah, my factories were closed but there were people working from home so we made it work, thankfully.
JR

Do you have a process when designing ?
MP

It really depends, sometimes I can just make mock– up’s where I use parts of plants. I was making rings by accumulating different leaves for example. It can definitely start from textures and materials that I find!
Marco then shows me his SS21 booklets of how his designs were executed from plant mock–up’s to the final products.
JR

This is really fun and so beautiful, reminds me of when I used to make daisy chains when I was younger.
[Laughing]
MP

Yeah, you can see the garden in Marrakesh and there are photos of my hands with plants and stones. Very organic looking designs.
JR

Where do you source all your materials?
MP

My factory is in Tuscany but it depends which stones, some are more specific to some countries than others.
JR

Is there anyone you would like to see wearing you collection?
MP

Super tricky question! I do, I do but I wouldn’t say I have specific ones but I have some sort of type.
JR

So what’s your type?
[Laughing]
MP

Hah that’s hilarious. When people ask me who is my icon or inspiration I always say I have different ones that I like depending on different types of women really.
JR

Jewellery is so versatile compared to clothing, which is great because truly anyone can wear it and you do not have to conform to a certain shape or image.
MP

Yes exactly, it is for everyone which is great.
Pasta cooing in the background – Marco’s boyfriend Jordan shouts, ‘You know the water boiling is right!’
JR

Is there anyone in the industry who you look up to?
MP

It’s a good question but a very hard one, living?
JR

Hah it’s hard sorry! Do you have any goals for the future?
MP

I want to expand my brand. I would love to do more objects and work on scale because I think I have a sense of texture and a sense of process and craftsmanship that can be applied to different skills and different objects. So not only jewellery but product design let’s say. From a vase to a chair or to even a home one day maybe.
JR

Like objet d’arts or arts de la table?
MP

Yeah that would be really good. I would also like to expand and do a few bags but also the market is very saturated so it is less my need to do that rather than objects and decorative elements. I would like to be surrounded by this world in general.
JR

Do you have a big team for your brand?
MP

We have four people in our team in Paris, we also have a press office but in design we are four.
JR

Super family vibes!
MP

Yes that a key word, I always refer to family a lot.
JR

Do you have any advice for young jewellery designers out there?
MP

I think everyone should just do what they like and project their creativity pure and simple as it is without too many external references. You have to think that the answers are always nearby.
JR

Stay focussed, do not let your mind run away with you.
MP

I think the most successful people at the moment are the ones who create spontaneously and who follow their taste and put it out in the world. It’s the ones where you can smell that there is nothing fake about it or how it is constructed.
JR

Do you think if you hadn’t been in Morocco the collection would be something completely different than what it is?
MP

Yes because I had things in front of me that were there at the time, in the moment. Otherwise I maybe would have travelled somewhere else. I love to do nothing and travel and just get inspired by my surroundings.
JR

Where do you want to go next?
MP

I would love to go back to India because I went many years ago and I loved the culture. It has so much to offer and I want to discover it more deeply. The stone cutting, namo techniques, paintings... there is just so much there sometimes I just feel it calling. Recently I have been very much about nature and the remote. I would love to experiment with a new and different country and make something with them.
JR

Hopefully soon!
MP

The goal is to make something, almost in collaboration with a different country. Discover their craft and merge that with my aesthetic, make production there and help out with a charitable project, giving local craftsmen and craftswomen work and experiment with that and see how I can merge that with my own aesthetic rather than go to a country come back and steal all their ideas!
JR

Haha, that’s excellent, love that idea.
MP

Let’s make some pasta now!
JR

Yes please, let’s eat!
Marco then makes me a beautiful plate of pasta al pomodoro. We continue to chat and relax with the sunshine gleaming. A truly wonderful summer day’s lunch.
JR

Bon Appetite!
MP

Buon appetito!