fashionologie

Christian Louboutin Says He Invented Chanel's Iconic Ballet Flats

fashionologie — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:01:15 PDT

>> Christian Louboutin says he deserves credit for Chanel's iconic quilted ballet flats - and that Coco Chanel had nothing to do with them.

Louboutin - who celebrated the 20th anniversary of his eponymous shoe label last year - told The Daily Telegraph that he came up with the idea for the quilted shoe during his brief stint as a footwear designer for Chanel.

"Everyone thinks it's part of Coco's DNA, that shoe," he said. "But it hadn't been done before I got there."

The perception that the Cambon flat is an archival Chanel shoe is not surprising; after all, it's named for Rue Cambon, the Paris street where Coco Chanel opened her first store. What's more, its quilted material points back to the Chanel 2.55 handbag, which was introduced in 1955.

Louboutin also worked as a designer for Charles Jourdan, Maud Frizon, and Yves Saint Laurent before opening his own line in 1991.

Time Names 100 Greatest Fashion Icons

fashionologie — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:31:22 PDT

Coco Chanel in 1920

>> Time magazine today released its list of the 100 greatest fashion icons, a collection of designers, brands, models, muses, photographers, editors, and stylists meant to be the definitive guide to the "visionaries that changed how we think about what we wear, and how we wear it."

The list includes all of the expected players - Coco Chanel is there, as are Yves Saint Laurent, Anna Wintour, Naomi Campbell, and Steven Meisel - but there are also a few people most wouldn't think of for a list like this. Sarah Blakely, inventor of Spanx, is included because she "has helped shape the modern woman - literally." Jacques Heim and Louis Réard, the men who simultaneously invented what eventually became the bikini are also on the list.

Time only mentions style influencers who made an impact after 1923 - the beginning of Time magazine - which means the list reaches back to people like '20s icon Zelda Fitzgerald and Chanel rival Elsa Schiaparelli. The list doesn't include any notable retailers (Andrew Saks and Ikram Goldman would have been worthy additions), and it's also not very diverse - of the 100 people on the list, only eight are black and two are Asian.

Still, the list is a testament to how vital the creative forces of the fashion industry are to the world at large. Take a look at the whole thing on Time.

New Biography Alleges Coco Chanel Was a Nazi Spy

fashionologie — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:12:08 PDT

>> Coco Chanel would have marked her 128th birthday tomorrow, and though she's been gone for just over 40 years now, new allegations keep popping up about her life. One upcoming biography, out this November, recently made headlines for positing that Chanel did drugs and was bisexual, and now another biography - just out this week - alleges that Chanel was an anti-Semite and a Nazi spy for Germany's Abwehr military intelligence organization.

Citing evidence culled from archives around the world - and recently declassified documents - author Hal Vaughan makes such claims in Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel's Secret War. The book was spurred by an accidental find in France's national police archive, Vaughan says: "I was looking for something else and I come across this document saying 'Chanel is a Nazi agent, her number is blah, blah, blah and her pseudonym is Westminster.' I look at this again and I say, 'What the hell is this?' I couldn't believe my eyes! Then I really started hunting through all of the archives, in the United States, in London, in Berlin and in Rome and I come across not one, but 20, 30, 40 absolutely solid archival materials on Chanel and her lover, Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, who was a professional Abwehr spy,"

Vaughan also suggests that Chanel's alleged anti-Semitism caused her to capitalize on laws permitting the expropriation of Jewish property - allowing her to gain control of the Chanel perfume lines from the Jewish-born Wertheimer brothers, who'd helped make her Chanel No. 5 a worldwide best-seller.

In response to the book's allegations of anti-Semitism, Chanel released a statement: "Such insinuations cannot go unchallenged. [Coco Chanel] would hardly have formed a relationship with the family of the owners or counted Jewish people among her close friends and professional partners such as the Rothschild family, the photographer Irving Penn or the well-known French writer Joseph Kessel had these really been her views. It is unlikely."

"We also know that she and Churchill were close friends for a long time. She apparently approached him about acting as an intermediary between the Allies and the Germans for a peace settlement known as Operation Modelhut. No one knows for sure exactly what happened or what her role was to be. There are several different versions and it will no doubt always remain a mystery."

"More than 57 books have been written about Gabrielle Chanel. To decide for yourself, we would encourage you to consult some of the more serious ones."

As for Chanel's relationship with alleged Nazi spy Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, Chanel noted: "We know for a fact that she had a relationship during the war with a German aristocrat she had met in Paris in the Thirties. The timing of this romance with a German was unfortunate even if Baron Von Dincklage's mother was English and their relationship started before the war."

Upcoming Biography Claims Coco Chanel Did Drugs, Was Bisexual

fashionologie — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:42:05 PDT

>> Many a biography and biopic have come out delving into bits and pieces of Coco Chanel's life, but an upcoming biography is said to have unearthed some new details. With the release of Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life, out Nov. 10, biographer Lisa Chaney claims to have concrete evidence that Chanel used drugs, embraced bisexuality, and had an affair with Salvador Dali while he was married. Chaney, through an email from her publicist, also says she accessed documents in the Swiss Federal Archives that prove Chanel’s German lover Hans Gunther von Dincklage spied for the Nazis throughout World War II. “Whether Chanel was aware of this is unknown, but after that war she lived in neutral Switzerland for a while, to avoid any proceedings against her,” the email noted. [WWD]

Fashion In 50 Seconds 05/27/09 Burberry Day In New York City & More

coutorture — Wed, 27 May 2009 06:52:41 PDT

Burberry will unveil its Manhattan headquarters tomorrow with a star-studded party and a gift of $50,000 to local youth projects.

At this year's SCAD senior fashion show, Andre Leon Talley spoke about the importance of having good manners.

The jury for the Trovata versus Forever 21 case is currently deadlocked, meanwhile Forever 21 has set its sights on 17 new West Coast properties.

Another film about Coco Chanel, not Coco Avant Chanel but Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, closed the Cannes Film Festival yesterday.

fashionologie — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:18:07 PST

>> INSIDER WIRE -We've seen a smattering of stills from Coco avant Chanel, a biopic of Gabrielle Chanel's early years featuring Audrey Tautou as the designer, but the first trailer finally dropped today. The film is premiering in France first - April 22 - before it hits the US later this year on a to-be-determined date, so unfortunately the trailer is in French with no subtitles. But it does give a glance at the film-to-be . . . [Allocine]

The trailer! »

fashionologie — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:25:51 PST

>> INSIDER WIRE -Chanel the company may be suffering, as indicated by recent job cutbacks and the cancellation of the Mobile Art exhibit, but the filming of Coco avant Chanel is still going strong - behold, the first still of Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel at work. [ONTD]

First Look: Anna Mouglalis in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

fashionologie — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:09:51 PST

>> We recently got a look at Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle Chanel in Coco avant Chanel; now it's time for a first look at Anna Mouglalis as Coco in rival film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. The latter, directed by Jan Kounen, focuses mostly on a six-week period in the life of Chanel and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky (played by Mads Mikkelsen, best known as Le Chiffre from Bond movie Casino Royale), when they are believed to have had an affair.

Filming is currently under way - recently in Paris, scenes were being shot at the Museum of Natural History with Mouglalis in a sober black dress and cloche hat - and the race is on to complete the movie before Coco avant Chanel hits screens next year. Both leading ladies are coincidentally (or perhaps not so much) Chanel brand ambassadors - Mouglalis for the Allure fragrance, Tautou for Chanel No.5, and Karl Lagerfeld has been assisting with costumes on both movies - for Mouglalis, he created at least two outfits, including an evening gown for scenes at Stravinsky's controversial "Le Sacre du Printemps" ballet opening.

Pitting two movies against one another seems very much in the Chanel vein - a couple of weeks ago, Mouglalis described her character to reporters: "Coco Chanel had to fight to succeed." Besides, what kind of fashion movies would they be without a little drama on the side?
*image: source, source

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Karl Lagerfeld Presents A Coin For Coco

coutorture — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:11:43 PST

Karl Lagerfeld presents a coin "Monnalie de Paris" (The French Mint) representing Coco Chanel, designed by Lagerfeld and valued at 7,440 US dollars. Paris 11/19/08.

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Chanel Movie Madness: Four Projects in the Works

fashionologie — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:35:35 PDT

>> Chanel is really looking to increase their profile through the movie route. Another film based on some portion of Coco Chanel's life has been announced: Chanel et Stravinsky, l'Histoire Secrete.

Last year, three films focusing on Coco Chanel were under way - Coco avant Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou as the designer before she became famous, is now currently filming; Director Daniele Thompson's Chanel biopic is still in the early stages, with a projected 2009 release date; and director William Friedkin's Coco & Igor, focusing on Chanel's love affair with Igor Stravinsky, is still in development.

Marina Hands has been lined up to play Coco opposite Mads Mikkelsen as Stravinsky in Coco & Igor; however, Friedkin is no longer listed as director - which brings us to the fourth, and newest, movie: Chanel et Stravinsky, l'Histoire Secrete. It, like Coco & Igor, is focusing on the relationship between Chanel and Stravinsky, and has Mads Mikkelsen playing the composer, but Anna Mouglalis is set to play Chanel, with Jan Kounen in the director's role. Are these two movies the same movie? Or are two studios just planning to go head to head?

Regardless, Chanel the brand wins in the end with all the publicity. A company spokeswoman confirmed that the house will be opening its doors to Chanel et Stravinsky's costumer, who Karl Lagerfeld will also be meeting with in coming weeks. Plus, it's worth noting that two of the women cast as Chanel have close ties to the house: Audrey Tautou is a face of the brand, and Anna Mouglalis is a muse to Karl.
*image: source