Cher made a rare appearance on the fashion circuit Tuesday night at a dinner at Sunset Tower to celebrate pal Loree Rodkin’s new collaboration on a scented fine jewelry collection with French fragrance house By Kilian.
“I had to be her friend to get half-price jewelry,” the singer joked of her 30-plus-year friendship with Rodkin, who started designing jewelry in the 1980s, after making her mark on Hollywood as a rock n’ roll interior decorator, and famously having affairs with Don Henley, Bernie Taupin and Richard Gere.
By Kilian is the French fragrance brand beloved by Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Rihanna, known for scents with such provocative names as Good Girl Gone Bad, Light My Fire and Voulez Vous Coucher Avec Moi, and for lacquered box clutch packaging that’s an accessory in itself.
Related Stories
Dressed casually in a cross-embroidered Chrome Hearts biker jacket and cashmere beanie, Cher wore her support for her friend on her wrist. “It’s a bracelet,” she said, lifting up her cuff to show a black diamond shield pendant on a cord wound around her wrist. “I still need to choose my fragrance.”
The six-piece collection, $2,950 to $10,000, in sterling silver and gray diamonds, combines the edginess of Rodkin’s aesthetic and By Kilian’s scents. Each piece comes with a ceramic insert, which when sprayed with fragrance, holds its scent throughout the day.
Melanie Griffith, Alana Stewart, Barbara Bach, Chrome Hearts co-founder Laurie Stark and Maxfield buyer Sarah Stewart were on hand to toast Rodkin, who also had a life as a talent manager for Robert Downey Jr., Brad Pitt and others before launching her jewelry collection. In fashion, she’s best known for her articulated bondage rings (and for designing the jewelry worn by first lady Michelle Obama to the 2009 inaugural balls).
Over dinner, Cher and Rodkin shared tales of their exploits on the road (an arrest in Moscow for climbing a statue in Red Square was one juicy anecdote) and got busy plotting a girls trip to Las Vegas on Feb. 8, when the singer will take up residency with a new show, “Classic Cher,” at the Monte Carlo.
Representing the fragrance house was founder Kilian Hennessy (an heir to the Hennessy cognac and luxury goods empire) and his wife Elisabeth Jones-Hennessy.
Rodkin and the Hennessys met three years ago in Paris — or New York, depending on whom you ask — when Killian sent champagne to the jewelry designer’s table. The fragrance guru suggested they collaborate, and voila, a collection was born.
“I love any design that makes you feel in danger, but at the same time shielded and protected. For me, Loree is all about erotic armor,” said Hennessy. “We have the same kind of dark, romantic sensibility,” said Rodkin. And scented jewelry is the ultimate luxury, she added. “It’s like a treat for yourself.”
The collection will be available Nov. 1 at Maxfield, By Kilian boutiques and ByKilian.com.
