Louis Vuitton jewelry designer Francesca Amfitheatrof quits the brand

In a major surprise, Francesca Amfitheatrof, the acclaimed jewelry designer of Louis Vuitton, has quit the Paris-based luxury house—just six months after Amfitheatrof herself unveiled a new building in central Paris destined to be Louis Vuitton’s jewelry global headquarters.

“I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to create the jewelry and high jewelry collections for Louis Vuitton. After seven wonderful and intense years, I am so proud of these collections and the legacy I leave behind as I embark on exciting new endeavors, which I will be announcing soon,” Amfitheatrof said in a brief statement.

Vuitton declined to comment on the departure of Amfitheatrof, who is very much a superstar designer in the world of fine jewelry. Her tenure at Vuitton has been a huge critical success, like her most recent collection, Damier, inspired by the brand’s famed monogram print. The collection includes a line of checkerboard bracelets and rings, designed in slimline forms with raised centers—surprisingly light and almost snake-like around the wrist.

“We developed one Damier ring a year ago, and people went crazy for it, so I thought, let’s do a whole collection. Sometimes the wisest decisions are right in front of your eyes,” chuckled Amfitheatrof at its launch in the new HQ.

Last year, while in high jewelry, she presented an exceptional new collection entitled “Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds,” inspired by Louis Vuitton’s spirit of travel and the mechanization of railways through interlaced V-shaped links. The collection mirrors the marvels of the Industrial Revolution in a symphony of platinum and yellow gold, diamonds, and golden yellow sapphires.

Amfitheatrof joined Vuitton in April 2018, an appointment that underlined how much Vuitton saw jewelry and watches as major growth areas for the luxury marque. Vuitton had begun inviting scores of major well-heeled clients to exotic locations like Hawaii and Courchevel in the Alps for several days of private viewing and shopping at jewelry galas.

At the time, then CEO Michael Burke noted that Vuitton had amassed a treasure trove of 200 million euros worth of precious stones. Upon her arrival, Vuitton devoted increasing amounts of retail space to her designs in its huge flagship in Place Vendôme, the most important retail center of luxury jewelry on the planet.

Very much a citizen of the world, Francesca Amfitheatrof was born in Tokyo and studied at three London institutions—Central Saint Martins, Chelsea College of Arts, and the Royal College of Art—yet speaks English with a slight Italian accent. Amfitheatrof’s first silverware collection was presented by Jay Jopling of London’s White Cube gallery in 1993. Her designs have been sold by Colette, Browns of London, Luisa Via Roma in Florence, Jeffreys in New York, and Joyce Hong Kong.

Her most important position prior to Vuitton was leading the jewelry design team at Tiffany, where, in 2013, she became the first woman to hold that position. Amfitheatrof quit that job in January 2018 when Tiffany announced that Reed Krakoff had been named the brand’s artistic director.

Previously, she had been a senior jewelry designer for UK royal jeweler Asprey & Garrard and designed for Chanel, Balenciaga, Fendi, and Marni. She also spent three years as curator of the Gucci Museo in Florence.

While at Tiffany, she developed a partnership with fashion-forward retailer Dover Street Market and featured Lady Gaga in the brand’s advertising campaigns, seen in a Super Bowl commercial.

During her time at Vuitton, Amfitheatrof continued to design for other brands. Earlier this month, her Instagram account featured a post of A$AP Rocky “wearing Psyche and Cupid, my first necklace for Maison Codognato,” the legendary Venetian jewelry brand.