Chanel before Chanel. Even as a newcomer to early-twentieth-century Parisian society, Coco was creating a style that was all her own. Using soft flowing lines, her designs were stripped of all Belle Epoque affectations, as illustrated here by Karl Lagerfeld, 1991. ©Chanel.
A stunning photograph of Coco from 1912, before she cut her hair. She is dressed up for a ball in the costume of a page boy at a village wedding. Her close-fitting jacket, black bow and round hat are pure Chanel. Private collection.
In the roaring twenties, when the garconne look was all the rage, Coco Chanel clothed the first generation of liberated women. Karl Lagerfeld’s drawings of 1991 show a few of the designs she invented which flew in the face of convention. © Chanel. Coco and her friends were the couturiere’s first models and her designs were tailored to meet her own needs. She is shown here on board the ‘Flying Cloud’ with Marcelle Meyer, the pianist from the Les Six, c. 1 9 2 8. Collection Boris Kochno.
During the thirties, Chanel bought ‘La Pausa’, a beautiful villa on the Cote d’Azur, where she spent the summer months swimming in the sea, sunbathing and relaxing. The look she created through this simple but refined way of life has still not doted. © Chanel. Chanel in her English period, photographed here with her friend Vera Bates in 1 928. Both had borrowed tweeds and sweaters belonging to Chanel’s wealthy lover, the Duke of Westminster. She started a whole new fashion without meaning to. Private collection.
Chanel loved photographers. She was the first to make use of them not just to ‘communicate’ her fashions, but also to promote her own image. Photographed here by Horst at her home, Gabrielle is fifty years old and is at the height of her fame, power and beauty. Much more than just a visual record, the photograph conjures up an entire style in one image. This thirties style as visualized by Karl Lagerfeld in 1991 is shown right. © Horst P. Horst/R.J. Horst/ Hamiltons (left). © Chanel (right).
Comet brooch. In 1932 Chanel created a fabulous series of white jewelry in diamonds and platinum. © Photo Laziz Hamani, 1 995.
Coco with Serge Lifar in Monte Carlo for the 1933 summer sporting season.
Unlike most other fashion designers between the wars, Coco Chanel entertained in the same style as her clients. © Photo all rights reserved. SBM Archives.
For the 1 987 Chanel Autumn/Winter Haute Couture Collection, Karl Lagerfeld designed this black velvet dress edged with white pearls, illustrated here by Ruben Alterio for La Mode en peinture (No. 12).
Androgynous, enigmatic and chic: the woman who set the fashion by appearing to ignore it. Shown here on holiday at the Venice Lido in 1 936. Photograph by V. H. Grandpierre. © All rights reserved.
Tiny pearls were used to create this remarkable quilted evening dress designed by Karl Lagerfeld in 1 990 with pearl embroidery by Lesage. The belt is made of engraved pate-de-verre inspired by the Chinese. © Photo Keiichi Tahara, 1 990. The famous strings of fake pearls and the precious stones in ornamental settings of Byzantine inspiration. Created by Coco Chanel and produced by the House of Gripoux, they brightened up her little block dresses. © Photo Keiichi Tahara 1 990.
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