In 1946, Italian Lyda Coppola created a company producing costume jewelry, giving it her surname Coppola.
Subsequently, Lida’s surname was added to the company name after her marriage – Toppo. Lida’s brother Bruno comes to work at the company.
Coppola e Toppo jewelry appeared on the cover of Italian Vogue in 1948 – this was the first major success!
Lida Coppola was noticed by the best French designers of that period – Jacques Fath, Piguet, Elsa Schiaparelli, Pierre Balmain, Jeanne Lanvin, Nina Ricci and Balenciaga, and she began making jewelry for them.
In the early 50s, Coppola e Toppo established good commercial contacts in America, after which a special line of jewelry was created for American stores.
In the 50s of the last century, the best Italian designers created – Emilio Pucci, Sorelle Fontana, Capucci, Krizia, Valentino – and Lyda Coppola worked for all of them.
American and French Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Time and The Herald Tribune constantly published photographs of the Italian company’s jewelry on their pages. Of course, after such advertising, Coppola e Toppo jewelry was very difficult to buy (note – currently, beads from Coppola start “costing” from 400 US dollars, necklaces from 600 US dollars).
In the 40s – 50s of the last century, the company made jewelry using gilded metal, silver, and artificial pearls.
In the 50s, glass, acrylic and beads with the aurora borealis effect came into fashion – Coppola e Toppo began to actively use these materials for jewelry.
Lida Coppola was not afraid to mix “incompatible” colors, creating extravagant compositions from bright beads and necklaces. It didn’t matter to her whether the beads were made of Venetian glass or plastic. It was important to show the spirit of the late 50s – 60s, the “Dolce Vita” style!
But everything passes, everything changes… The fashion in jewelry also changed (they became simpler in design, simply stamping became in demand), and in 1972 Coppola e Toppo was absorbed by a large Italian jewelry production company; and in 1986, after the death of Lida Coppola, the brand’s jewelry was no longer produced.
In 1987, Deanna Farnetti Cera wrote a book about the company Coppola e Toppo (Italian – “Coppola e Toppo. Maestri del Bijuo”, French – “Coppola e Toppo. Masters of Bijoux”, English – “Fashion Jewels. Coppola e Toppo “).
Currently, jewelry from this once very desirable brand for many fashionistas is in the Costume Museum of the Municipality of Milan, as well as in private collections and vintage jewelry dealers.
