Images: courtesy of Antonio Production
Messika brought Terres de Contrastes to the Grand Palais during Paris Fashion Week SS27, presenting its 2026 High Jewellery collection with Adriana Lima and Irina Shayk among the cast, and Julianne Moore and Carla Bruni among the guests.
Images: courtesy of Antonio Production
The collection draws on Botswana, with blues, greens, reds and mineral tones appearing across diamonds and coloured stones. Backstage, I was more interested in seeing what happened before all of that reached the audience.
Images: courtesy of Antonio Production
Models moved between hair, make-up and final preparations while music played and conversations carried across the room. Every piece of jewellery had its own box and someone responsible for it, waiting with the model who would eventually wear it. Pieces were fitted, checked and kept close until it was time to go.
Up close, the jewellery became even more striking. One necklace moved from deep reds into violet and blue, with oval coloured stones surrounded by diamonds and sitting close to the collarbone. Another look layered several diamond necklaces high around the neck, with matching earrings and a small diamond lip jewel. Worn with a simple black dress, the jewellery was really the whole look.
One of the things I loved most backstage was watching choreographer and artistic director Julien Gaillac work. He stayed with the models right up until they went out, showing them how to move, adjusting a walk and sending them back to try it again. A shoulder changed, the pace shifted, then he would have them do it once more.
Images: courtesy of Antonio Production
Gaillac often works for brands, adapting his movement language to the identity of each project. He describes his choreography through coordination, momentum and pleasure, and you could see that attention to movement in the way he worked through each model’s walk. Around him, jewellery teams were waiting with open boxes, models were being called into position and final looks were being checked. Nobody seemed to be standing still for long.
A few minutes before, backstage, Gaillac had still been sending them back to try it once more.
Images: courtesy of Antonio Production
Once the show began, all of that work moved out into the Grand Palais. Adriana Lima, Irina Shayk and the rest of the cast stepped into the space, the jewellery catching the light as they moved.
Images: courtesy of Antonio Production
As the models stepped onto the runway, they walked in front of a lit screen that gave each look this sense of grandeur. The silhouettes felt stronger, the jewellery caught the light, and for a few seconds everything looked almost cinematic. It was the kind of moment that gave the room a real rush; I loved it.
