Marie Lichtenberg: the French fashion editor who created the cool girl’s locket
After a successful but high-pressure career in fashion, former stylist and editor MARIE LICHTENBERG left the world of magazines behind her to launch a bohemian jewelry brand on her own terms. Her talismanic lockets have garnered a cult following – craved for their kaleidoscopic colors and powerful symbolism. Here, CHARLIE BOYD speaks to the designer about her departure from the fashion industry and how she embraced the lifelong love of jewelry that led to her meteoric success
Marie Lichtenberg is captivating. Her wild sepia curls and the labyrinth of colorful lockets strewn around her neck immediately convey her inimitable creative spirit – but it is her quick sense of humor, open-hearted warmth and whirlwind energy that really hook you into her magic within moments. Wearing a simple T-shirt and talking to me from a corner of her Saint-Germain showroom in Paris, with the clanging and banging of boutique-business life chiming around her, there is little indication of her former life as an influential fashion editor at Elle France. Even less conspicuous is the fact that, in just a few years, Lichtenberg has gone from making one necklace for her newborn daughter to being one of the most coveted fine jewelry designers in the world.
Born and raised in Paris, Lichtenberg was surrounded by jewelry throughout her childhood because her mother, a successful artistic director at an advertising agency, would spend her weekends running a little vintage-jewelry store for her own pleasure. “I really got the very deep love of jewelry from my mother, but I never imagined that one day I would do something like this,” Lichtenberg says with an air of genuine surprise, as if she herself has not yet processed her speedy ascent to the top of jewelry connoisseurs’ wish lists. “Jewelry has always been in my life, but I suppose I’m only just realizing that it has been there forever,” she muses.
Lichtenberg began a career in fashion at Elle France in 2003 and invested her first paycheck in a piece of jewelry – a vintage gold pinky ring from the 1940s. The stylist spent 12 years working in the weekly magazine’s high-octane atmosphere, but as creativity was increasingly curtailed by mounting advertiser pressures to feature prescribed products, Lichtenberg lost enthusiasm for the job and felt ready to move on from fashion’s highly strung eco-system. “I was so sad and bored at the end. We’re talking about fashion and creativity here, and yet the industry turned into something so heavy, so toxic and so not fun,” she tells me. “It was a fucking nightmare, even if it was the dream job. When you experience that kind of struggle in your working life, you want to build a career based on who you are, not just what people are expecting of you,” she explains poignantly. “I wanted to build my brand so that I could work with the people I love and do what I want. I wanted to take a risk and to learn something new. I just needed a little bit of money and a lot of guts… et voilà.”
Like so many remarkable feats of creativity, Lichtenberg’s locket-clasp necklaces are a happy accident that bear deep roots. She was given a similar locket-style necklace for her 14th birthday by her mother, who hails from Martinique. Strung on a chunky, thick-set chain, the lantern-shaped locket was charged with fervent symbolism: it had been passed down to her mother by hers before that, as it was a common keepsake within Creole culture. “This style of Forçat necklace was crafted by slaves when they were freed,” explains Lichtenberg. “They kept the symbolism of the thick gold chain, then added little French clasps that their masters had brought with them. It symbolized a very important mix within Creole culture and is such a strong emblem of freedom.”
The locket clasp became the keystone of her jewelry box, but it was when Lichtenberg welcomed her own daughter into the world that she turned her attention more seriously to jewelry design. “I wanted to give her something from me, so I took the clasp as my inspiration and created one that said, ‘To the Moon and Back’ – it was like reaching into my own memories to create something for her.” This creative segway was just one in an avalanche of changes in Lichtenberg’s life at the time. “I had the idea of the locket, then I quit Elle, I quit my husband, I quit my apartment, then I met a new guy,” she claps out decisively. “Life was very busy, and then when I had my second baby, I decided to launch a small collection of 40 pieces, which sold out in… two days, I think.”
“The story of this brand is all about breaking free. When you’re convinced by what you’re doing and you put your entire heart into every piece, with [the help of] a great team, then it’s going to be OK whatever you do
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Made in India, myriad feats of craftsmanship are squeezed into each tiny clasp, including grand feu enameling and guilloché engraving, with vivid hues inspired by the vibrancy of the West Indies. Little mottos such as, ‘Love’, ‘Toujours’, ‘Bonheur’ and ‘Protection’ are branded on the side of each piece – words that hold magical powers for Lichtenberg. Aside from some of the molds, the lockets are entirely handmade, and Lichtenberg works with a Fairtrade organization to guarantee that her artisans are fairly paid, with investment put back into local schooling and education.
Lichtenberg’s rainbow threads are crafted from used saris by skilled artisans in Dhaka, who twist slender strips into colorful twines, which are then beaded and embroidered by hand in Mumbai using Ghanaian beads sourced from Krobo and Ashanti Ghana – where they used to be a trading currency, equally as precious as gold. For all their beauty, though, these striped beads can be a nightmare to drill. “But that’s my favorite way to do it; we don’t buy anything ready-made, we cherish every piece, so it takes time. ‘Organic’ is a keyword for our business, I never try to calculate a cost before I’ve tried something out,” Lichtenberg explains. “We make the most beautiful thing we can achieve, then we pray,” she laughs. “We don’t talk to the banker first – we just use our best energy to build something really, really cool.”
Unsurprisingly, given the talismanic nature of her designs, Lichtenberg finds that many of her customers are seeking jewels to celebrate a special occasion or momentous life event. She believes the current zeitgeist for neo-vintage and amulet-inspired designs is inevitable. “People are lost and they’re looking for roots, meaning and something sustainable; something that helps you remember who you are,” she says. “I think it’s a backlash to fast fashion. Jewelry is an intimate luxury. It’s not footwear, it’s not jeans. You build very deep relationships,” she says.
Just two and a half years since she formally launched her first collection, Lichtenberg is still developing her brand and what she wants it to stand for. “To be honest with you, the story of this brand is all about breaking free. When you’re convinced by what you’re doing and you put your entire heart into every piece, with [the help of] a great team, then it’s going to be OK whatever you do,” she states with the utmost conviction. “I’ve been to the shrink a lot, and you know what? You can’t do everything perfectly,” she shrugs. “I truly think I’m doing my best and even if it’s not perfect, you know what? I’m trying.”
The next year holds even bigger and better things for Lichtenberg, as she is battling the effects of the pandemic on production in order to expand her prêt-à-porter collection and produce her first designs for men. “It could all stop tomorrow, and I would be super-sad, for sure,” she says. “But I would be happy that, for once, I’ve been welcomed for what I am, for who I am and for what I’ve done.” As a parting query, I ask her to sum up her jewels in just a few words and she pauses sincerely for thought. “It’s a happiness heirloom. Et voilà, voilà, voilà.”