Retailers Embracing Men’s Jewelry and Accessories

PARIS — When friends Adrien Messié, a former collaborator of French design maven Andrée Putman, and Erwan Le Louër, founder of ethical jewelry label JEM, stepped into the jewelry arena in 2012 with Le Gramme, they thought the market for men’s jewelry was “mature, but there was no selection,” explained Le Louër over a bottle of Evian in his pristine design office on Rue Beaubourg, just steps from the Centre Pompidou, Paris’ hub for modern and contemporary art. “We launched the line just to see, did everything contrary to the market: We only had five references really — one design declined into different weights — and the fact is, it grew like crazy.” In its first year, Le Gramme did twice as well as the founders predicted; in the second year, it tripled volume and now expects to triple again having sold approximately 5,000 pieces via its wholesale network, which currently spans 50 stores, including The Webster Miami, Selfridges and Bergdorf Goodman. Hip Parisian retailer Colette is said to be placing a reorder every two weeks. “Over the past couple of seasons, we have seen a notable increase in the demand for men’s jewelry at Mr Porter,” Toby Bateman, the online retailer’s buying

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