October 14, 2025 |
Without collaboration, creativity can quickly go stale. Having a space where creative ideas can be collectively dissected and rebuilt with a fresh perspective is essential. Bvlgari’s Mary Katrantzou understands this more than most. Over the course of her tenure, which began in April last year and marked the first time the Roman house appointed a creative director for leather goods and accessories, Katrantzou has prioritised reinvention with a rigour that both pays homage to Bvlgari’s past and carves out its future.
Katrantzou’s fascination with the serpent, the storied emblem of Bvlgari that anchors its history in one of Greco-Roman mythology, has been a continuous thread in her work so far. Before her appointment as creative director, Katrantzou was invited to redesign the house’s Serpenti collection as part of its Serpenti Through The Eyes Of series, whereby designers reinterpreted the symbol into pieces coded by their own distinct flourish. Reimagining the body of the serpent as a handle for the Serpentine bag, Katrantzou established her ability to use heritage as a springboard for a modern body of work.
Now, Katrantzou and Bvlgari are having a full circle moment, as the designer presents Serpenti in Conversation, an evolution of the series she was once part of. This time round, the series will be centred around a creative conversation, rather than isolated interpretations. For the AW25 season, Katrantzou’s first collaborator is Géraldine Guyot Arnault, the creative director of Parisian ready-to-wear brand Destree.
“To me, collaborations are something very special,” Guyot says. With Destree, she doesn’t collaborate too frequently as a means of preserving the sanctity of the “moment where magic happens”. However, having been an admirer “since childhood,” in awe of her mother’s extensive Bvlgari collection, Guyot knew this was an opportunity she had to take. For Katrantzou, Guyot’s ability to create timeless designs made her the perfect fit – the rich Serpenti symbol would be in safe hands.
“I see the serpent as a guardian of tradition, but also as a muse for reinvention,” says Guyot, whose collection has focused on the Serpentine bag, the same silhouette Katrantzou interpreted when she undertook the task in 2017. Introducing a passementerie chain as the handle, Guyot has showcased her aptitude, much like Katrantzou, for designs that feel both fresh and rooted in history. “Many vintage necklaces incorporated passementerie cords, so her idea felt authentic to both her world and ours,” says Katrantzou. “That’s the beauty of this project – keeping our icons alive through new perspectives while celebrating the house’s codes.” The handle, which is crafted in gold-plated brass and features a press button closure, has been mounted onto two different sized bags, with the mini version crafted in either a deep red or black satin, and the regular crafted in an ivory calfskin leather or chestnut nappa leather.
Having a rummage through the Bvlgari archives was the starting point for Guyot. “I received a document filled with images of archival pieces,” she says. “And diving into it was like stepping into a treasure trove of creativity.” Cautious about merely replicating, Guyot instead focused on “capturing its spirit and translating it into something new”. For Katrantzou, this meant creating what she coined as a “future archive” – a project that ensured Guyot’s vision “was executed with precision while bridging her sensibility with Bvlgari’s DNA”. Doing so meant having a close partnership throughout every stage of the creative process, from initial designs to product development. “It was refreshing to have a true partner-in-crime with whom I felt deeply aligned,” says Katrantzou.
“I always believe today’s innovation becomes tomorrow’s heritage,” adds Katrantzou, who is keen to introduce fresh interpretations of codes at the heart of Bvlgari. “For me, collaboration at Bvlgari is about conversation and plurality – values deeply embedded in our DNA. Bvlgari has always been a plural, open brand. With Serpenti in Conversation, I wanted to create a platform where dialogue fuels innovation while celebrating heritage.”
Photography courtesy of Bvlgari. Shop the collection at select Bvlgari stores now.
