Messika and Gigi Hadid Partner Again on a Collection

New York—French jewelry brand Messika has once again partnered with American supermodel Gigi Hadid.

Hadid not only models Messika’s new “My Soul” collection, just as she did with the first collaboration, but also helped design it this time around.

“She embodies fashion, and fashion is a big source of inspiration for me,” creative director Valerie Messika told National Jeweler at a press presentation of the new collection during New York Fashion Week.

“When I create my jewelry, the goal is to treat the diamond with a more fashion attitude. When I said to myself, ‘Who embodies fashion today?’ I quickly think about Gigi because she is one of the new, younger generation of modeling who also loves designing. I was looking for someone who designs and loves to create.”

Hadid also represents Messika’s target demographic.

It’s no coincidence that the brand chose to collaborate with an American celebrity upon making a push into the U.S. market, exhibiting at the Couture jewelry trade show and gaining wholesale accounts in the country.

And Hadid’s role as a key figure in the new generation of models Messika references is largely contingent upon her overwhelming social media reach.

“I chose (to continue working with) her because this new generation of modeling has changed the industry a little bit because of (social media),” she said. “She is not only a face for a brand, she also embodies her own style and her own brand. I know I have big success with the younger generation. Sometimes their dream at 18 is to have their first piece of fine jewelry from Messika, so we represent exactly the same target, we speak to the same people.”

The way Hadid mixes her fine jewelry effortlessly with casual wear like jeans and leggings, documented by the paparazzi and on Instagram, exactly embodies the effortless, unfussy styling approach with which Messika designs.

While the first partnership saw them play with the best-selling Move collection, interpreting the motif in a new way in honor of its 10th anniversary, the second started with Hadid’s inspiration.

“With the second collection, we knew more about each other,” Messika said. “This year it was a blank page. We started from what she loves, and she was even more excited about it.”

Hadid created mood boards that she sent to Messika, which the latter described as “sunny” and “more Bohemian,” with hand chains, anklets and body chains indicative of Hadid’s Middle Eastern background.