Elie Top, the architect of dreams
After working in fashion, Elie Top set up his jewelry brand over a decade ago. Beaming from ear to ear, this modern-day dandy welcomed us at his Parisian showroom.
Artist or engineer? Elie Top is both. A talented illustrator, he sketches faces that show how a particular jewel can be worn. Like an engineer, he imagines construction plans; representations of his intricate and improbable assemblies. His inner child still dreams of Kinder Eggs. “I love them, even though I don’t eat them. When you see a piece on the workbench, it looks exactly like one of the surprises inside: parts that fit together,” he says, grinning with the genuine delight of someone who continues to find wonder in small things. /public-objects/87db234e-7aee-4220-9b6a-88183b59348e-c521780f-eed7-40c9-b67e-3eb2faa7e7f1-Elie%20Top%20-%20Portrait%20(1).webp Image sélectionnée Elie Top has been making jewelry for more than a decade, but took his first steps in fashion. Born in 1976, he left his native Flanders at the age of 17 to study at the École Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. In 1997 he joined Yves Saint Laurent, working side by side with the master himself. “He liked me. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been allowed near him!” he jokes, before adding, “you didn’t work with Yves Saint Laurent. You worked for him.” Loulou de la Falaise, the couturier’s muse, took him under her wing, and taught him how to nurture his creativity in a cultural whirlwind. Next came Lanvin, designing costume jewelry alongside Alber Elbaz who introduced him to a constantly shifting world of exuberance and imagination. “Sometimes, he didn’t even see my drawings. I’d take him the finished pieces, shaking from head to toe, wondering whether he was going to like them.” /public-objects/d4656d3b-3934-4e38-944e-8ebd09f04495-2d8a89cc-36ec-4953-9492-c225e2d32ff0-Elie%20Top%20Charm%20Coeur%20C%C3%83%C2%A9cile%20-%20Shooting%20Hugues%20Laurent.webp Image sélectionnée THROUGH SPACE AND TIME Then came the desire to launch his own brand, although it would be several years before he made up his mind. “I didn’t know what was me anymore, what was part of my identity.” Ultimately, he took with him an instinct for construction, and an approach to shapes and volumes, whether a piece inspired by a Gothic rose window or a futuristic object. Because Elie Top loves medieval castles as much as he does Star Wars—as his collections show. First, Mécaniques Célestes with jewels that open and close like astrolabes. Then La Dame du Lac, imagined as armor. Or Liaisons Dangereuses, its more delicate designs built around recycled old cut diamonds, which he appreciates for “their imperfection, their irregularity and the emotions they stir.” /public-objects/0b6f9bf2-daeb-4cdb-92ed-a22ea2c344da-df01e29c-2cbb-4f7b-bf8f-5e330bbbe1ff-Elie%20Top%20BO%20Merteuil%20-%20Shooting%20Hugues%20Laurent.webp Image sélectionnée Elie Top’s jewelry is part cathedral age, part space age; part eighteenth-century refinement, part industrial minimalism. He works with white gold, yellow gold and silver. Sometimes all three together, “which makes assembling the piece incredibly complex.” More than anything, he wants his jewelry to be worn, and is still amused to see “people spotting other people who wear my creations. A proper little club!”