Coppola & Toppo

Italian griffe of costume jewellery named after Lyda Coppola (1915-1986). Born in Venice, she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and joined the workshop of Ada Politzer, a famous creator of jewellery. She created the griffe in Milan. The company, named Coppola & Toppo after her marriage to Toppo, captured the attention of the great tailors due to the high quality of its costume jewellery. At first, her creations were especially appreciated by the great French couturiers such as Balenciaga, Balmain, Dior, Fath, Lanvin, and Schiaparelli, who used them as accessories for their Collections. In May 1948, Vogue France dedicated Point de Vue to her. Helped by her brother Bruno, she took a second look at the American market where, thanks to an introduction by Elsa Schiaparelli, her jewellery went on sale in the big New York department stores — Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Bergdorf Goodman — and appeared regularly in the most important fashion magazines: Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Women’s Wear Daily. In fact, the jewellery followed American taste in its spectacular effects of shape and color played out through the flexibility of crystal set on invisible metallic frames. Flowers were typical subjects in the 1960s, by which time Italian designers were entrusting Coppola & Toppo with the manufacture of their jewellery. These included Capucci, Krizia, Pucci, Lancetti, Enzo Fontana, and Valentino. Valentino became the most important client, and gave particular impetus to the company’s research on the use of metal and plastic with the various gems. The firm’s activity ceased at the death of Lyda Coppola. Maria Pezzi wrote about her in Donna: “She had a total sense of fashion and exceptional aesthetic taste. Hers was an artisanal work by now long gone: before their manufacture in the workshop, she studied her jewels carefully, calculating the weight, examining the workmanship, the lace, and the waterfall effects. It is certain that Italian fashion, from the beginning based on imagination, risk, and personality, found in Lyda a great ambassador.”