Christie's just turned its spotlight on one of our own, Susie Hoimes, and the collection she spent a lifetime assembling.
It began, fittingly, on a beach. Born in Kenya to British parents, Susie was the kind of child who came home with her pockets full of shells, an instinct for the beautiful that only sharpened as she moved through Iran, East Africa, and England, haunting flea markets and estate sales along the way. That eye became MDVII: the San Francisco shop she ran from 1990 to 2021, championed by Vogue, frequented by collectors and celebrities, and stocked with archival couture jewels by Chanel, Dior, Pierre Cardin and Yves Saint Laurent.
This past winter, Christie's brought her personal favorites (pieces from nearly every decade since the 1920s, every one offered without reserve) to auction as The Susie Hoimes Collection: The Art of Costume Jewellery. The results read like a love letter to the form. A 1930s Gripoix glass and faux-pearl necklace attributed to Chanel, one Susie loved too much to ever part with, went for $20,320. And in a poetic full circle, John Galliano's 1998 Maasai choker for Dior, its beadwork drawn from the very Kenyan tradition Susie grew up around, fetched $10,795, having already graced the necks of Rihanna and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Through it all, her philosophy never wavered: jewels are made to be worn, not entombed in a safe. "I'm five foot three. I wear it all," she told Christie's. And somehow, on Susie, the boldest piece looks like the most natural thing in the world.
source: Christie's