Gas Bijoux (Fashion Memoire)

Gas Bijoux has stood apart from its peers with artisanal, made-in-France accessories that are sold only in a few proprietary boutiques. Classically trained at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, André Gas set out to make designing costume jewelry an art as well as a career, creating affordable adornments that stir the imagination. Taking as his logo a glowing sun, he opened his first boutique on the beaches of Saint Tropez in 1971, expanding to the United States by 1983. For forty years, the collection has combined a pop sensibility with a rococo flair, and has drawn on his extensive travels—New York, Cartagena, India, Mexico City—to arrive at a distinctly elegant exoticism. The Gas Bijoux aesthetic has taken root in André’s children, Marie and Olivier, who are now carrying on their father’s tradition of delivering fantasies via jewels, watches, and perfumes.