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Rose Anne Cu-unjieng de Pampelonne jewelry designs in ‘Vogue’

PARIS-BASED ROSE ANNE Cu-unjieng de Pampelonne is set to be the next big Philippine fashion star, if she isn’t one already. Her bejeweled accessories, or “cuddly ornamentation” as she likes to call them, were recently featured in In Style (modeled by pop superstar Rihanna) and Elle. Last September, they get prominent exposure in Vogue (Rachel Weisz on the cover) in the magazine’s jewelry report. It was also in that magazine that she was featured about two years ago as one of Paris’ “secret addresses,” for her embellished clothing designs, which are made in Nepal. She is in the spotlight again as her accessories make a big dent in the creative and crowded world of international fashion. Last June, I was in Paris to interview and photograph this design powerhouse for this newspaper and for the cover of the Philippine Tatler, out this October. We did her shoot and interview at one of the homes she designed, a gorgeous toney two-story apartment with a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower.

I have known Rose Anne for quite some time and we manage to make time for catching up whenever I go to the City of Light. She is always very accommodating and kind-hearted. She loves to entertain and hobnob with the city’s ultra-chic crowd. The last time I was there, the wife of Louis Vuitton chair and chief executive Yves Carcelle, Rebecca, was giving Rose Anne a birthday party. Invited were some Filipinas like the very lovely Yvette Lhuillier-Warnod (Monique’s beautiful sister, a carbon copy of her mom Amparito) and Ria Agousti whose furniture and accessories are sold in Barney’s as well as in Paris.

Passion
Rose Anne’s passion for creativity and sense of style has always been innate. She has taken lessons in painting in Florence and design in Paris. A good friend prodded her to open an interior design company upon seeing her work on the apartment she was then living in. Today she is an accomplished interior designer with a coveted clientele all over the world. Her home has been featured in countless magazines and this column reported the coverage of her own home in Elle Décor (US) last April. She also had a showroom in Manila called Artemis (now owned by Baby Girl Fricke) and her partners include her sister Libet Virata, Conrad Onglao, Anton Mendoza and Doris Ho. Her jump to fashion, and now jewelry, has progressed naturally. She says it all started with embroidery that did not work on the clothes she designed. She kept them and made them into necklaces.

When asked how growing up in the Philippines has influenced her work, she answered, “What I appreciate about having been born in the Philippines is the Filipino sense of flexibility and diplomacy (good manners over brutal frankness) as they help cushion the rough bumps along the way.” Prompted further on why she went into accessories/ jewelry design after being an interior and fashion designer, she said, “I know that it is mad to have added another profession albeit one which does complement the other; but it just happened!” So how does she put it altogether—being an interior, fashion, jewelry designer, a wife and mother? Rose Anne has been married for 20 years to the investment banker, Baron Bruno de Pampelonne; they live with their three handsome sons Dominic, Ludovic and Alexis. (Incidentally her oldest son Dominic was photographed her for the Tatler cover). She says, “I’m so busy that it would be a great luxury to have more time. Problem is, even when I’m tired, I don’t want to stop, because I love what I’m doing... When I feel I’m beginning to be overwhelmed, I go home.” Rose Anne adds, “I am looking forward to spending more time with my family; they are really my most incredible inner circle. Hopefully more years of creating and, wistfully, finally learning how to delegate in the good old Filipino way.”

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