Celebrity Life

Chanel Celebrates Its Centenary of the N°5 Perfume With the First Ever High Jewellery Collection Dedicated To a Fragrance.

The post Chanel Pays Homage To the Iconic N°5 Perfume With a Dedicated High Jewellery Collection appeared first on LUXUO.

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was the greatest style icon of the 20th century, and her designs continue to shape what we wear today.

Yet the Coco Chanel who emerges from the first exhibition ever dedicated to her work in Paris will come as a shock to fans of her brand's bling.

The creator of the little black dress, tweed suits, two-tone shoes and quilted handbags that are synonymous with French elegance was a very different animal to Karl "the Kaiser" Lagerfeld, who turned her label into a $100 billion business.

While the flamboyant German impressario had a magpie eye for street fashion, the Coco Chanel presented at the new show at the city's fashion museum, the Palais Galliera, was a futurist visionary of almost spartan refinement.

[caption id="attachment_210949" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Creations by French designer Gabrielle Chanel displayed during the exhibition "Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto" at the Galliera Palais fashion museum. (Image: Stephane de Sakutin/ AFP)[/caption]

Many of the dresses she designed and wore a century ago are so startlingly modern they could grace the catwalk now. The cliche is that Chanel freed women from the tyranny of Victorian corsetry, borrowing liberally from men's wardrobes to do so.

But for the curators of "Gabrielle Chanel, Fashion Manifesto", an ongoing exhibition at Paris' Palais Galliera that runs till March 14, was only the tip of the iceberg.

Style revolution

Chanel created so much of modern style's DNA that her radicalism has been hiding in plain sight, said the museum's director Miren Arzalluz.

[caption id="attachment_210950" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Image: Stephane de Sakutin/ AFP)[/caption]

"Even for us it was a surprise how much even we didn't really know her work in depth," she told AFP. "Her style is so timeless and present in our lives... and so ingrained in our collective memory that no one thought it necessary to do a retrospective, because we all thought we knew it."

From her striped "mariniere" sailor top in 1916, to making black the colour of cool, letting women move freely in their clothes and being the first to see the potential of sportswear, her influence is utterly pervasive, Arzalluz argued.

Her Chanel No. 5 perfume, sold in simple square bottles with utilitarian black and ivory labels, was minimalist before minimalism was even a thing. "And her Chanel suits of the 1950s and 1960s were the uniform of modern women," she added.

[caption id="attachment_210953" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Image: Stephane de Sakutin/ AFP)[/caption]

But it is the breathtaking elegance of her cut and silhouettes which will come as the biggest surprise for those raised on Lagerfeld's showy 36-year reign.

What is also striking, Arzalluz insisted, was how Chanel stuck to her revolutionary guns despite the arrival of Christian Dior's New Look after World War II, with its return to wasp-waist corseted looks. "There's a coherence in her style from the beginning to end," Arzalluz said, in a span that goes from 1912 to her death in 1971.

That this is not shouted from the rooftops more often is partly because of what Chanel did during the war, and her subsequent flight to Switzerland after the liberation.

Don't mention the war

[caption id="attachment_210952" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Image: Stephane de Sakutin/ AFP)[/caption]

Arzalluz acknowledged her "complex personality", a reference to her "horizontal collaboration" with France's Nazi occupiers, and her attempts to use their anti-Jewish laws to prise back control of Chanel No. 5 from the Wertheimer family who had fled for their lives to the US.

Whole shelves full of biographies have dealt with how Coco spent the war tucked up in The Ritz with her German intelligence officer lover, Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage.

Which was why Arzalluz said the museum — whose newly opened galleries have been partly funded by Chanel — took the "radical decision to concentrate on her work" rather than her private life. That was best "left to scholars and biographers", she said.

[caption id="attachment_210951" align="alignnone" width="1024"] (Image: Stephane de Sakutin/ AFP)[/caption]

However, Arzalluz was at pains to point out that Chanel was never in thrall to men, a lesson she learned early when he father put her in an orphanage. "I don't like the idea that she discovered everything thanks to the men in her life — that she only used tweeds because of the Duke of Westminster... or her Russian-influenced period was because of (another of her affairs with) Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich," the last Russian tsar's cousin, and one of the men who killed Rasputin.

"It is just not true," the curator insisted.

Arzalluz said Chanel was "an avant-gardiste", far ahead of her time pioneering things "we all do now, mixing the ordinary with the chic, the masculine and the feminine, costume jewellery with the real thing.

"The way we dress today, wearing tailored jackets with jeans, or men's shirts, or trainers with airy chiffon dresses" is directly down to her influence, she said.

(All images: Stephane de Sakutin/ AFP)

The post How Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel Forged Much of Modern Style’s DNA appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Chanel’s Spring Summer 2020 Ready-to-wear collection marked as Virginie Viard’s first solo collection as the Artistic Director of the French fashion house. With classic silhouettes and familiar prints, the designer elevated the jewelry to another level. Chanel is now has a magnifying legacy of two visionaries of all times, Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. The […]

The post A Glimpse at the Chanel Spring Summer 2020 RTW Costume Jewelry Collection appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

Prolong your fragrance’s scent in Singapore's humidity.

The post A guide to layering fragrances appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Prolong your fragrance’s scent in Singapore's humidity.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s love life has long been a rich source of inspiration for the jewellery lines of her namesake fashion house, and this year’s offering is no exception.

Called Le Paris Russe de Chanel, the high-jewellery collection is an ode to a chapter in Chanel’s life during which Russia inspired her and her work, even though she never set foot in the country.

A notable mention goes to Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, a cousin of Tsar Nicholas II, with whom Chanel had an affair and subsequently fell in love with all things Russian. The romance was well documented because the dashing duke had a chequered past and was known to be quite a ladies’ man. But what made the liaison intriguing was that Pavlovich had been involved in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin, the infamous mystical advisor to the Russian Imperial Court.

[caption id="attachment_162808" align="alignnone" width="1417"] Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was captivated by Imperial Russia[/caption]

When the Russian Revolution broke out, Pavlovich fled to France, like many others from the Imperial Court, including aristocrats, artists, musicians and dancers. Many of them ended up in Paris, where the arrondissements in which they congregated became known as Le Paris Russe, or the Russian Paris.

The duke was penniless when Chanel met him. But that didn’t deter the designer because the handsome nobleman embodied all the splendour of Imperial Russia, something which captivated her.

The short-lived affair lasted from 1921 to 1922, but it was intense. Through Pavlovich, Chanel began associating with many other Russians and soon formed close friendships with a number of newly stateless exiles from the former empire. The composer Igor Stravinsky, who had a scandalous affair with Chanel, and Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Ballets Russes, who asked her to design costumes for his dancers, were among the Russian cultural icons of the interwar years who benefited from a close relationship with the designer, and in turn influenced her life and career.

Chanel was deeply impressed by the country and its people. “The Russians fascinate me,” she remarked. “It’s the Russians who have taught women that it’s not dishonourable to work.’’

Like every high-jewellery collection since 2009, Le Paris Russe de Chanel was designed by Patrice Leguéreau, director of the house’s jewellery studio, Chanel Joaillerie. The collection is inspired by a “fantasy” vision of Imperial Russia that Chanel could have imagined based on what her Russian lover and friends told her.

Le Paris Russe de Chanel loosely covers two decades of Chanel’s life, from the 1920s through the ’30s, which were a particularly creative time for the designer. During this period, she liberated women from their corsets. Her famous little black dress -- a simple sheath in crêpe-de-chine, with long, closely fitting sleeves -- was becoming a staple of the nouveau-chic wardrobe. She also introduced her now-legendary Chanel No5 perfume with the help of another Russian émigré, Ernest Beaux, the czar’s and Imperial Court’s perfumer, who helped her with the formula.

Chanel’s fashion creations also took on a Russian aesthetic. Long tunics, robes, fur-lined coats and large blouses modelled with belts soon appeared in her collections, which also incorporated Russian embroidery. The latter came by way of the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the sister of Pavlovich, whom Chanel had convinced to open an embroidery workshop named Kitmir, hence securing an exclusive supply for her fashion house.

Recognising the huge role Russia had played in Chanel’s life, the 69-piece Le Paris Russe de Chanel is presented in 11 sets and celebrates the designer’s fascination with the country in two acts: Russian Splendour, a period when the designer was first introduced to the grandiose life of refined Russia by her paramour, and Russian Folklore, which she came to know more through her association with the exiles -- an atmosphere rich in colours, patterns and intricate embroideries.

[caption id="attachment_162810" align="alignnone" width="4961"] Folklore earrings[/caption]

To add cohesion, Leguéreau peppered the collection with signature Chanel motifs, such as sheaves of wheat or the camellia, which appear in figurative and abstracted forms. The double-headed eagle, a historic Russian symbol signifying empire and found on a Baroque mirror in Chanel’s apartment on Rue Cambon, also features prominently in the collection as bold outlines or as accents.

[caption id="attachment_162812" align="alignnone" width="3059"] The designer's Baroque mirror with double-headed eagle.[/caption]

The Aigle Cambon ensemble, for instance, manifested in white and yellow gold, quartz, and diamonds, is perhaps the most emblematic homage to the Russian Empire. The yellow cuff bracelet is especially bold with diamonds set to form an insignia-like pattern.

The Médaille Solaire set alludes to the sun and military orders with diamonds and pearls blazing. A ring featuring a majestic yellow diamond in the centre, with rows of smaller yellow and white diamonds radiating out, is especially captivating in its brilliance and detailed craftsmanship.

[caption id="attachment_162811" align="alignnone" width="4961"] Médaille Solaire ring[/caption]

Other Slavic-inspired statement pieces come from the Sarafane suite, which is inspired by Russian needlework. A noteworthy piece is the Sarafane headpiece that resembles a kokoshnik, a traditional Russian headdress that became popular as a style of tiara in Western Europe in the late 19th century. Etched with camellias that resemble lace and set in white gold, cultured pearls and diamonds, the headpiece can be transformed into a necklace if so desired. The openwork Sarafane necklace, meanwhile, showcases an exquisite diamond weighing 10.18 carats, which is surrounded by no fewer than 1,347 diamonds as well as 10 cultured pearls.

[caption id="attachment_162814" align="alignnone" width="4961"] Blé Maria brooch[/caption]

Colourful gems -- diamonds, sapphires, spinels and tourmalines -- take centre stage in the Blé Maria category, which recalls Russian decorative arts. A stately yet romantic brooch set with softly-coloured sapphires and tourmalines is dedicated to the grand duke. The Blé Maria tiara –delicately embellished with pink spinels, mandarin garnets, coloured tourmaline and diamonds -- is again another modern-day reimagining of the traditional kokoshnik.

[caption id="attachment_162809" align="alignnone" width="3080"] The Blé Maria tiara is a modern-day reigning of a traditional Russian headdress.[/caption]

The Byzantine era is celebrated in the Broderie Byzantine ensemble, in which white gold, cultured pearls and diamonds form exquisite ornamental pieces, again featuring the camellia motif.

In the Folklore set, deep-ruby terracotta enamel forms the backdrop for camellia-shaped diamond petals. Vibrant pearls and precious stones of various hues and shapes glitter through ornaments in the set. A statement piece is the bracelet cuff, which is garnished with colourful garnets of spinels, sapphires, tsavorites and cultured pearls. The bracelet appeals with its Baroque-meets-folksy Russian charm.

Harking back to the glorious days of Russian nobility, the Motif Russe parure features diamonds exquisitely set in white gold. Strings of sparkling stones cascade in tassel-like formation from an ornamental pendant in a necklace or come in rows to form a bracelet.

For folk-inspired pieces, the remarkable Roubachka collar necklace, made from yellow gold and platinum and adorned with colourless and yellow diamonds, stands out. The Roubachka ring, meanwhile, cleverly layers precious stones to give the silhouette of the Russian folk dress after which the set is named.

Many pieces in the Le Paris Russe de Chanel collection are transformable, illustrating the jewellery house’s highly inventive skills in producing pieces that could magically be taken apart and then reassembled differently.

Chanel was known for breaking the rules, whether in her personal life or her work. When she started designing jewellery, it was considered a revolutionary and daring move because few fashion designers of the time dared to venture into the conservative milieu of Place Vendôme’s jewellers, but Chanel did it anyway.

A century later, Chanel Joaillerie has become a pillar among France’s grand jewellery houses. And today, Le Paris Russe de Chanel lives up tothe late designer’s reputation, showing how irreverent aspects of Chanel’s personality and lifestyle continue to mesmerise, captivate andenrich the world of high jewellery.

For more information, visit chanel.com.

The post New High-Jewellery Collection Recalls Young Coco Chanel’s Love Affair appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Fashion journalists loved to compare Karl Lagerfeld to his predecessor, Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel. Every time when journalists lacked the depth to understand Lagerfeld’s brilliance, they interpreted his bon mots and beautiful designs though a comparison with Chanel. After a while, the analogy became gruesome because it stole from Lagerfeld’s creative identity and reduced his […]

The post Virginie Viard’s first Couture Collection appeared first on Upscale Living Magazine.

By the 1980s, the suit as a women's power uniform was in full swing, fronted today by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton but it was still very much an Anglo-Saxon sartorial trend but it's making its way to Asia.

The post The Power Suit is The Alpha-female Look For Asian Women appeared first on LUXUO.

With a career that spanned close to seven decades, Karl Lagerfeld's demise is felt at every corner of the fashion industry.

The post Karl Lagerfeld: Tributes from the fashion world pour in appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

With a career that spanned close to seven decades, Karl Lagerfeld's demise is felt at every corner of the fashion industry.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

A homage to the mademoiselle's choice colour.

The post What to expect at Chanel’s Le Rouge beauty pop-up in Singapore appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

A homage to the mademoiselle's choice colour.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.