Fortrove News

As if the stars aligned, Mariah Carey is not only celebrating the 25^th anniversary of her album “Butterfly,” but also speaks with Vogue on her latest jewelry collaboration with Chopard.  

When asked how the collaboration came to be, the popstar said, “I met Caroline [Scheufele, the president of Chopard] a couple years back, and she was just the most fun, festive person ever. Then, as one does, I was celebrating Christmas well after it was over—it was well into January—and I noticed there was a gift under the tree that I hadn’t opened yet. It was from Chopard: It was a beautiful silk scarf with a butterfly pattern on it, and a handwritten note from Caroline. At that moment, I was super excited because one of my songs was about to go diamond, and I really wanted to do a collaboration with a diamond company. When this happened, I just said, ‘Let me try it and see if there’s any interest.’ This was two years ago, so I thought they would want to do some sort of Christmas thing; I was suggesting [designs of] snowflakes. But she was like, ‘No, we want les papillons—we want to do butterflies all year long!’” 

When asked what are her favorite pieces in the collection, Carey said, “As we were first on the phone, Caroline started sketching this gorgeous butterfly necklace, and it’s still the most memorable moment for me in this collaboration. The symbol of the butterfly became synonymous with me and my fans, because of my album Butterfly. With the earrings, I also love that one side is one wing and the other is another wing, then it’s dripping down with diamonds. With the Happy Butterfly collection, you can be completely [casual with it]. For me, it’s with jeans and a white shirt—like you see in the picture of me with my dog.” 

The collection comes just at the 25-year mark from the release of her hit record, “Butterfly,” when asked what the album means to her these days, Carey said. “It really is the fan-favorite out of all my albums. I mean, it’s debatable—people also like The Emancipation of Mimi. They were two different moments of freedom and emancipation. Butterfly represented an era of my life that I had to exit. I entered the music business as a teenage 19-year-old girl, and then being in a situation that was very stifling and very difficult, I had to evolve and gain the strength to realize that I had to get out of that. When I was creating the Butterfly album, I was using it as a metaphor to fly and to be free, and make the type of music that I wanted to make. There was a lot of criticism from people who clearly weren't listening to the same music I was listening to. They were like, ‘Why is she trying to be a hip-hop artist?’ The corporate morgue, as I call it, didn’t get it. But to my diehard fans, that album represents more than just, ‘She was doing a hip-hop record with rappers.’ It’s a very important album in terms of the scheme of my life. When I look back on it, my entire life really went into that album. If I didn't have that, I don't know if I would have been able to leave the situation I was in.”

Information originally sourced from Vogue.