Special Epiphany Cake, Sotheby’s Will Auction Famous Diana Dress – WWD

PIECE OF CAKE: After sushi and burgers, jewelery designer Nadine Ghosn turned her hand to croissants—with the help of pastry chef Cédric Grolet.

The two have collaborated on the Epiphany cake, which will be sold between Wednesday and January 15 in a limited quantity of 50 pieces.

And among the lucky few to get it, someone will be luckier.

Inside one of the cakes is a unique “fève” token, an 18-karat gold amulet shaped like a croissant, valued at 6,580 euros, just under $7,000 at current exchange rates.

“[His croissants] was my guilty pleasure,” admits the jeweler, who was initially attracted by Grolet’s bold designs that set it apart in the bustling and busy Parisian cake scene.

Grolet, 37, became a household name in the pastry world after becoming executive pastry chef at the Parisian palace Le Meurice in 2013 and was named the “Best Pastry Chef of the Year” in 2015 by leading gastronomic publication Le Chef Magazine.

His fruit trompe-l’oeil, often complex pastries hidden in white chocolate shells that replicate the look of their main ingredient, draw huge devotees to luxury hotel cake counters and have netted him an estimated 5.9 million Instagram followers. The opening of his bakery on Avenue de l’Opéra saw lines snaking around the block.

Whenever he came to Paris, Ghosn would visit the shop, and bringing his croissants to friends and clients via Instagram became something of a calling card. Later, they struck up a conversation and eventually met – over coffee and croissants, of course.

From there, collaboration is the next step. Chose the given croissant. Not only is it “the most recognizable thing about a classic French bakery” and one of his shop’s best sellers according to Grolet, but for Ghosn, “awakening our inner child becomes the extraordinary ordinary,” he says.

True to this notion of childish fun and magic, Epiphany, and the French tradition of hiding a trinket in a cake and giving a paper crown to the person who finds it, senses the right occasion.

Their Epiphany cake has a traditional frangipane filling, a combination of almond cream, butter, eggs and sugar, hidden beneath a flurry of individually rolled miniature croissants. As for their prized partner, it is an 11 gram solid gold amulet, handcrafted in Paris and bearing both of their names on the back.

In either case, it’s labor-intensive, says Ghosn, who went through several prototypes to achieve the shape and layers of a Grolet croissant’s signature and many more polishing steps to mimic a glossy baked finish.

If each cake contains an Epiphany token, the decision to have just one golden croissant feels like a great way to embody Ghosn’s lifelong joy at the “game of finding treasure” each time an Epiphany cake is presented, according to the jeweler.

“Plus, who doesn’t want to be king or queen?” she says.

The Nadine Ghosn x Cédric Grolet Epiphany cake will be available via the pastry chef’s website for 110 euros. — LILY TEMPLE

IN’S DRESS FOR SALE: The strapless velvet tulip-shaped dress that the late Diana, Princess of Wales, wore in a royal portrait with the Prince of Wales in 1991, and which later appeared in a Vanity Fair shoot in 1997, will be sold during the Sotheby’s Auction in New York on Jan. 27.

With an estimated value of between $80,000 and $120,000, the dress, designed by Victor Edelstein, previously sold for $24,150 as part of a 1997 auction consisting of 80 dresses from Princess Diana’s private collection to be donated to the AIDS Crisis Trust and the Royal Marsden Hospital Cancer Fund. .

The dress originally appeared in Edelstein’s fall 1989 collection. He was one of Princess Diana’s go-to designers for over a decade, from 1982 to 1993.

In 1991, British painter Douglas Hardinge Anderson depicted Diana wearing the gown in a painting that now hangs in the Cancer Fund of the Royal Marsden Hospital, which he visited.

The dress was later featured on Franklin Mint’s 1998 limited edition Princess Diana doll, as part of a collection of 1,000 dolls wearing her most famous gown.

The dress was part of Sotheby’s “The One” inaugural auction, which aims to present the finest selection of products ever seen before in history.

The purple diamond cross worn by Princess Diana will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s this month. The Attallah cross is named after the former chief executive of Asprey & Garrard group, the late Naim Attallah, who owned the piece of jewelry, which he later passed on to his daughter, Ramsay.

The princess famously wore the Attallah cross in October 1987 to a Birthright party, a charity that works to protect human rights during pregnancy and childbirth. Diana on that occasion also wore a purple Catherine Walker dress that resembled a Tudor court dress.

The cross is estimated at 80,000 to 120,000 pounds. —TIANWEI ZHANG

KAPSU SUPER RIHANNA: Rihanna, who will headline Apple Music’s 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show on February 12, has released a limited-edition Savage x Fenty football-themed collection in anticipation of her appearance.

Game Day’s 17-piece collection features hoodies, sweatpants, varsity tees, tops, hats, beanies, boxers, and bandanas.

The Super Bowl will take place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Inspired by the colors of football, the LVII cropped jersey and LVII hoodie and sweat pants in cookie brown and black caviar have bold logos on the front and back of each style. The two-tone LVII jersey has a Savage twist with Rihanna’s signature printed on the front X motif, while the LVII T-shirt includes a Rihanna graphic that is only visible by pulling on the T-shirt. There are also LVII cotton boxers with soccer motifs, LVII tube tops and colorful accessories such as skullcaps, hats and bandanas.

The collection was accompanied by a campaign highlighting Rihanna in a head-to-toe Game Day look featuring a black caviar jersey and pants and a beanie in baking chocolate.

Additionally, Savage X Fenty will launch a three-day retail pop-up experience in Los Angeles that runs from January 27 to 29. Customers will be invited to shop the Game Day collection at the grass-covered, football-themed shop. mannequin heads and goalposts as clothes racks, photo moments and branded gifts.

Sizes range from XXS to 4X, and the collection is available at Savagex.com and at retail. Prices range from $24.95 to $89.95 for Xtra VIP members and $32.95 to $112.95 for non-VIP members. —LISA LOCKWOOD