Inside Harry Lambert's Wonderful World of Pandora

Two blowfish hung from Alexa Chung’s earlobes. A frog climbed up Paloma Elsesser’s ear. Kim Petras had a mouse on her throat. Welcome to Pandora and Harry Lambert’s wonderful new world.

On the Tuesday night of couture week in Paris, Pandora hosted the most fun party in town; a celebration of the launch of Pandora Wonders, the brand's new creative platform — with Lambert on board, there was certainly no lack of creativity. With Wonders, Pandora is tapping into their whimsical side, with a focus on out-of-the-box designs and artisanal craftsmanship, with a new collection each year that stems around one core material. In Lambert, they found a perfect match for the debut.

The collection re-imagines freshwater pearls as fantastical objects and creatures: two peas in a gold pod; the base of a submarine, complete with a rotating propeller; the body of a dangling squid; a giant blowfish that gets blown up and balloon-icized in the ad campaign. The overarching vibe? Fun. So of course they had to throw a party to match.

Held at the newly opened Le Gratin restaurant in 1st, the event turned into a veritable block (or in French parlance, courtyard) party. Oysters and lobster rolls were served with Champagne over ice (Paris is still in the midst of a heat wave, after all). Inside, a live craft showed off the intricacies of the collection. Outside, guests that included Chung, Elsesser, and Petras, as well as Dree Hemingway, Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, Mia Reagan, and Camille Charrière, reveled in the balmy night. Somewhere in the middle, around 10pm, everyone started dancing. Above it all, a giant balloon replica of the blowfish oversaw the festivities.

Ahead of the party, NYLON spoke to Lambert about his inspirations for the collection, his favorite charms, and what’s currently filling him with wonder.

How did the pearls inspire you for this project to start?

Pearls have always been my favorite... what would you call it? Gem? Crystal? Feature of jewelry. One of the first pieces of jewelry I really invested in was a single pearl on a piece of string, actually. I used to wear it religiously, non-stop. It was also something that I bought very early into moving to London, and it felt very special to me.

I think there's something about pearls that feels like they hold memories. They hold history. There's something about them coming from the ocean, from an oyster shell. There's something mysterious about them, but they also feel like they've lived a life. There's something about pearls, and baroque pearls in particular, that just feels special to me. Whenever they're used within fashion, I always feel very drawn to them. So it felt like such a natural collaboration with Pandora that working with them like this involved pearls.

A lot of the things that bring me joy are feelings of nostalgia and memories. So the idea was building up these characters, these charms, around the pearls and seeing how the baroque pearl shape could be quite transformative. The Pandora team really added another sense of storytelling through these charms.

What was the first charm that you designed for the collection?

The first charm was the frog, which is heavily inspired by a memory I have from childhood. We had a water bucket in the garden and when the frogs would lay their tadpoles, my brother and I would constantly look in the bucket to watch them grow until the day there would suddenly be loads of little frogs jumping all over the garden. I particularly love that one because it feels a little different from the others. It's flatter, and we've enlarged it into one special version that can be worn as a brooch or as a larger charm around the neck.

Do you have any other favorite charms in the collection?

Obviously I love the frog, but I particularly love the mouse. I think it's really great worn as an earring. When I first moved to London and started working in fashion, I bought myself a really cheap fake pearl earring from a high street store that made my ear go green every time I wore it. I consider this pearl mouse my official upgrade to that earring that I no longer wear.

What was the last thing to fill you with wonder?

I'm away on holiday at the moment and I've been going to theme parks. I'm actually going to Disneyland today. That always fills me with wonder because it takes me back to my childhood and spending time with my family. So that's what I'm doing here at the moment, taking my nephew there. I think the world that Disney creates always fills me with wonder and joy and memory making.

What are three things you find wonderfully charming right now?

I took my nephew to a concert recently and he'd been learning all the words to the songs and listening to the album non-stop. I found that really charming and it felt like a really special moment with him. My dog, Pickle. We've had her for about six months now and she fills me with a lot of joy. She's given me a new thing to focus on.And Tim Walker's new exhibition that's coming later this year. I worked on a few projects for it and I find the world that Tim Walker creates incredibly charming. I'm really excited to see that exhibition when it opens.