Found Victorian Celestial Motifs Turned Into a Modern Collection

Meet Toni and Chloë Goutal, a mother and daughter team that turns globally sourced celestial motifs from the Victorian era into one-of-a-kind modern designs.

If you recognize the name Goutal, you’re not mistaken. Toni’s sister-in-law was the famed French perfumer Annick Goutal, whose brand continues to be sold in high-end retailers. Toni is also the sister of the late designer Angela Kramer, who created unique pieces for world-renowned estate jeweler Fred Leighton. And the immediate family also includes Marie-France Goutal Cohen, founder of the luxury children’s line Bonpoint and the Parisian concept store Merci.

While Toni has infused an old world–luxury DNA to the brand, daughter Chloë has introduced a millennial approach and aesthetic to their collaborative business. What has resulted is an incredible collection of moons, crescents, and stars sourced mainly from 1837 to 1900. Most pieces were once primarily brooches that the design duo turned into necklaces using chains from the era.

Showing the spring/summer 2019 collection on New York’s Upper East Side last week, Toni Goutal explained the brand’s birth about six years ago. “My daughter bought a moon and people wanted to buy it,” she said. “We just tried a few, and they were extremely popular.”

The collection has since become so sought after it is now sold in some of the best specialty stores in the country, including Maxfield in Los Angeles, the Webster in Miami, and online at Moda Operandi, to name a few.

I wondered how found objects from the Victorian era could possibly make a cohesive collection such as this one. There are dozens of stars, moons, and crescents—all with origins from England or France and each with their individual provenance. Toni explained that the celestial theme was pervasive during the Victorian time, and there was an obsession with rebirth, fertility, tides, and astrology. Who knew?