Chanel: Collections and Creations
A lush visual selection from the Chanel archive—essential reading for fashionistas and design aficionados everywhere.Chanel’s combination of tradition, originality, and style has always made it the most seductive of fashion labels. Here the House of Chanel opens its private archives, revealing a galaxy of brilliant designs created by Coco Chanel from 1920 onwards. Dazzling clothes, intricate accessories, beautiful models, and timeless design leave no doubt as to the lasting fame of her na
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A sumptuous feast for Chanel Lovers and Fashionistas,
I have all of the biographies, novels and museum exhibition books published about Chanel in the past twenty years. This new book is a treat for both Chanel lovers and fashionistas.
Author Daniele Bott takes five central themes – the suit, the camellia, jewelry, fragrances, make-up and the LBD (little black dress) and sends us on a journey from the first showing of each item through its many reincarnations. You see how many times designers and the Chanel House itself has re-imaged Chanel creations from over a century ago.
There are over 159 illustrations – 101 of them in color. Many of the photographs have never been seen before and were taken by the greatest names in fashion photography.
My favorite two page spread features a display of the different Chanel buttons used on suits over the years. Another features Chanel fitting Ingrid Bergman in her Chanel suit for a scene in Tea and Sympathy. There are pictures of her original make-up packaging (Chanel thought about travel sizes in make-up long before anyone else), and her push up lipstick created in 1926. Imagine a 2-page spread sea of red Chanel lipsticks or an exclusive, entirely hand crafted logo makeup brush with 16,000 silk strands and the double C logo in the middle.
Chanel was famous for mixing costume jewelry with the real thing and costume jewelry designers (most notably Joan Rivers) have made their fortunes with variations of her original Maltese cross and faux pearl designs.
Every single photo exudes the Chanel style of understated elegance and luxury. For over a century, CoCo Chanel and now Karl Lagerfeld have kept the look and its history alive. This book carries on that tradition.
I also highly recommend:
Jacques Helleu and Chanel by Jacques Helleu which features over four decades of Chanel print ads and commercials.
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|Almost the lone dissenting voice,
I see this book has been almost universally praised. Much as I hate to be almost the sole dissenting voice, I have to say I found the book quite lightweight in regards to the many years of history of Chanel collections, and basically, just a long advertisement for Karl Lagerfeld’s reinvention of the Chanel product(s) line.
Since I find most of KL’s innovations for Chanel somewhat tacky and hit-or-miss, I didn’t enjoy this very much.
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|A Glorious Chanel Chocolate Box,
Chanel: Collections and Creations is an utter delight from cover to cover. The book itself is beautifully presented, printed on heavy stock and bound tightly. Unlike some other “coffee table books” I’ve bought, it feels like it was made to last. This book is a real treat for both the casual and dedicated fashionistas alike. Images are gloriously rendered both in full color and crisp black and white. The full page shot of the iconic camellia brooches and the section dedicated to the Chanel suit were particular highlights. A number of photographs are so detailed and well shot that you almost feel you can reach out and touch the clothing and jewelry pictured. I can highly recommend this excellent resource – even for those with a mere passing interest in the house of Chanel. A very happy addition to my book collection.
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