Fashion industry authority Ilaria Icardi boasts an illustrious CV. Currently the womenswear ready-to-wear design director at Prada, Icardi began her career at Etro and Hugo Boss in Milan, before joining Tom Ford in Paris as senior womenswear designer at Yves Saint Laurent. Stints at Celine, Victoria Beckham and Bottega Veneta followed.
Throughout, she has nurtured a lifelong love of jewellery. ‘My papa was a jeweller,’ Icardi says. ‘After he passed away in 2017, I always pushed away this legacy, and the fact that I grew up in Valenza [Italy], which is a town where everyone does jewellery. I grew up with that heritage.’
In 2020, after moving to Paris, something shifted. ‘When you do fashion, you do accessories. I was working at brands where accessories are part of the outfit, part of the look. My friends kept asking me what jewellery I was wearing and why I wasn’t making my own – and so I decided to do it, on the side.’
Raw emerald and yellow gold pendant, made to order, price on request
(Image credit: Mattia Parodi)
From top, Rita ring, made to order, price on request; Rita aquamarine and yellow gold ring, £10,030; Broken yellow gold ring, £7,100
(Image credit: Mattia Parodi)
Icardi established her eponymous brand with her brother Lorenzo Icardi, a gemologist, building on the history of the family jewellery business begun by their late father in the 1960s. It is a personal project, drawing on jewellery from their father Umberto’s archive and Icardi’s own designs. Each piece, handmade to order and crafted in Valenza, epitomises both strong, clean design and heritage craft.
Icardi began with a handful of pieces from her father’s archive, as well as jewellery she had created during the year, deciding to launch online only. ‘I love playing with images and creating a little bit of content is part of my job. Everything naturally melted together. I prepared a website with friends and people that work in the industry who I trust and I admire. Working in the fashion industry, you have the chance to meet fantastic people. I created this character, a woman whose jewellery is part of her wardrobe. I like clothes that you can wear every day, and I treat jewellery the same way.’
The youth of the brand has given Icardi the freedom to define a strong DNA. ‘We are not a brand that has been consolidated for 20 years. In jewellery, you have a lot of competition from big brands. In our pieces, the quality is there, and there is a consistency. I’m very grateful at the moment – we have good results and we are happy.’
Icardi is drawn to tough, bold silhouettes and organic textures in 18-carat gold, eschewing perfection to focus on organic forms. ‘I like layering, I like contrasts – it’s a very schizophrenic approach. There is no logic or intellectualism behind it. I love gold. I love big, raw, chunky jewellery. I love jewellery from the 1930s and 1940s, but later pieces from the 1970s, 1980s and the beginning of 1990s are more me. I like bad taste and good taste coming together. It’s almost my motto.’
Umberto pearls, £5,690; Spaceman yellow gold pendant, £3,760; Safety Pin yellow gold pendant, £1,310; Key yellow gold pendant, £4,550; Anna diamond and yellow gold ring, price on request; Milanese yellow gold choker, £15,720
(Image credit: Mattia Parodi)
It is a magpie instinct that translates into an eclectic collection of jewellery, taking shape in fine, understated engagement rings (‘I’m a bit overwhelmed by the big engagement ring, the big diamond: I call mine the baby engagement for someone who doesn’t want to show off’, she says) and, on the other side of the spectrum, oversized, stand-out necklaces and bracelets.
(Image credit: Mattia Parodi)
In the short time the brand has been established, Icardi has quickly garnered acclaim. Recently, her jewellery was worn by Julia Roberts in Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming film, After the Hunt. ‘Giulia [Piersanti, the costume designer] is a good friend of mine. We have a very similar aesthetic, and we support each other professionally. There is a classicism throughout. Julia Roberts is wearing the jewellery, but it doesn’t take over the scene. It’s almost part of her character. I’m very grateful, because in all my years working in the industry, people have been lovely and very supportive. I’m still very small and my structure is very light, so I would like to keep it this way for now and then, maybe in a year’s time, decide how to move forward.’
All jewellery by Ilaria Icardi
This article appears in the Wallpaper* March Style 2026 issue, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + Subscribe to Wallpaper* today