Elizabeth Taylor’s Earrings Just "Walked" in the Balenciaga Couture Show

On the lobes of Kim Kardashian, courtesy of Lorraine Schwartz

*Paris is burning up with jewelry! I just sent out a newsletter with some of the High Jewelry coverage when this news broke. I am hoping you're feeling as “more is more” today.

“Life without earrings is empty!” Elizabeth Taylor once proclaimed. One of her favorite pairs were diamond and platinum chandeliers. The earrings appeared front and center in countless pictures throughout Taylor’s life, particularly around the period she received them from Mike Todd.

As soon as I saw Kim Kardashian walking in Demna’s final Balenciaga couture show on Vogue’s Instagram coverage, I knew I was looking at the earrings on her lobes, as well as the layers of necklaces by Lorraine Schwartz who created 11 looks for the show. The legendary jewelry designer, who is a close friend of Kim, bought the earrings at the Christie’s auction of Elizabeth Taylor’s estate in 2011.

Kim Kardashian wearing Elizabeth Taylor’s chandelier earrings from the Archive Collection of Lorraine Schwartz and diamond jewelry by Lorraine Schwartz. Photo via Instagram @ChrisAppelton1

This moment was anything but random. It has layers of connection to Elizabeth Taylor.

Kim produced a BBC documentary about the Oscar winner, Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar, which was released in England recently. In 2011, shortly before Taylor died, Kim conducted the final interview with the star which was published in Harper Bazaar. And at the Elizabeth Taylor auction, Kim picked up one of her jewels by Lorraine Schwartz. I actually interviewed Kim briefly about from the auction floor.

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The Balenciaga couture show was the first time the earrings have been worn since Lorraine bought them in 2011. When I just spoke to Lorraine on the phone in Paris she told me:

“Everything was an ode to Elizabeth. The outfit Kim wore was inspired by her costume in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The necklace was a play on the Taylor-Burton Diamond necklace. Demna had Elizabeth in mind as a source of inspiration. It was something I thought about for the 11 looks we did for the show.”

Elizabeth’s earrings were the pièce de résistance.

“Elizabeth really loved those earrings,” explained Lorraine who formed a close friendship with the star after they met in 2001. “Almost every time we got together, it was a three-hour session of talking about jewelry. The story of receiving those earrings was one of her favorites.”

At the 1957 premiere of ‘Raintree Country,’ Elizabeth Taylor wore her diamond and platinum chandelier earrings. She is flanked by Mike Tod and actor Van Johnson.

The legendary true jewelry story began in Paris when Taylor was visiting the City of Lights with her third husband, movie producer Mike Todd. According to her biography My Love Affair With Jewelry, the couple was staying at The Ritz when they took a stroll down the arcade near the Place Vendôme where she spotted a pair of costume chandelier earrings in a shop window and went in to try them on.