Billy Porter is a red carpet figure who always promises to catch the eye. The star of FX’s Pose is at the top of the fashion game, pushing the envelope in daring ensembles that keep us talking the morning after and longer.
So it was a very cool opportunity for lab-grown diamond company Lark & Berry to place one of its pieces on his neck at the opening performance of the 92nd annual Academy Awards on Feb. 9.
Made in collaboration with Diamond Foundry, the San Francisco–based producer of lab-grown diamonds, the necklace Porter wore featured nearly 65 carats in a glittering, spiky collar comprising trillion and baguette stones.
“Having the opportunity for Billy to wear our jewelry is an incredible honor. He is such an inspiring icon—not only for his larger-than-life looks we all wish we could pull off, but also for his talent in pushing current issues forward faster than they would normally progress,” said Lark & Berry founder Laura Chavez, in a statement. “This makes him the perfect Lark & Berry visionary. We are ecstatic to finally be able to say that he’s the icon debuting our amazing necklace made specifically for this occasion.”
The necklace is part of a three-piece suite of lab-grown diamonds—completed by a pair of long drop earrings and a pair of studs (worn recently by Francia Raisa, a star on ABC’s Grown-ish)—in collaboration with Diamond Foundry, which will soon be broken down into smaller, consumer-friendly options for purchase. The pieces will reportedly retail for about $2,000 each and will be available on larkandberry.com in September.
“I know this beautiful three-piece suite is going to stun, and we are so eager to release the limited exclusive collection soon after that as part of our two companies’ co-effort,” continued Chavez in a statement. “We are two sustainability-led luxury brands who share the same outlook: We know the only truly rare thing we have is our planet, and we want to do anything we can to keep it healthy and naturally magnificent while still allowing people to have luxurious products.”
With high-profile placements like Porter’s, things can only go up from here for man-made diamonds and gemstones, and the up-and-coming generation of shoppers could possibly be influenced by what young stars such as Raisa wear on and off the red carpet.
Top: Necklace in 18k white gold with 64.5 cts. t.w. lab-grown diamonds, price on request; Lark & Berry x Diamond Foundry
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