Having read many biographies on Gabrielle Chanel, a musical comedy doesn’t really seem fitting for her life (a moody art film seems more like it).  Coco didn’t do to well with the critics but it sold our shows night after night.  Well, now Coco is being reprived by London’s Sadler’s Wells Theater as part of a series called Lost Musicals 2011 – a European premier.  If you are in the area this may be fun to check out.  The show runs in May and June and tickets can be purchased online.

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A few days ago Chanel released a new Rouge Coco Shine shade named Royallieu and it is available exclusively on Chanel.com.  The soft pink shade is named after Chateau de Royallieu, Étienne Balsan’s estate where Coco Chanel stayed with him as his lover.  Her stay at Chateau de Royallieu was her introduction to society and she began making hats during her stay there.  She also met the love of her life, Boy Capel at Chateau de Royallieu.  With so many romantic connotations, it’s the perfect color to wear to get ready for some summer lovin’.  Rouge Coco Shine Royallieu retails for $32 and is available only online at Chanel.com.

Image SourceSimilar Posts:

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Illustration by aleXsandro Palombo

Read a few funny snippets of interviews with Karl Lagerfeld – he really has a way with words. I can’t help but smile when I read his answers. He doesn’t want Haider Ackerman to succeed him at Chanel, he doesn’t like women in thongs, his hair is low maintenance and the campaign featuring Crystal Renn was shot in his childhood bed.

Naomi Watts & Chanel Ambassador Jen Brill in Chanel

Chanel hosted a dinner as a part of the Tribeca Film Festival and there were many fancy people in attendance.  Read more via WWD & T Magazine

The Rhode Island School of Design is hosting an exhibit called Cocktail Culture featuring gorgeous cocktail wear and a Chanel LBD designed by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel from 1958 is on display.

Ajaline, a new high end jewelry flash sale site has a vintage Chanel sale starting tomorrow through May 5th.Similar Posts:

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On March 21, 2011, CHANEL will debut the highly anticipated short film titled, “Coco
Mademoiselle,” starring Oscar®-nominated actress Keira Knightley.

Three years after the first commercial film, Knightley reprises her role as COCO MADEMOISELLE, a modern
day Coco Chanel whose mystery, daring and rebelliousness are at the heart of her charm.

While the first film featured long evening gowns, the second takes on a more urban feel, with Knightley
appearing on the streets of Paris in a chic, beige motorcycle jumpsuit designed for her by Karl Lagerfeld.
Filmed in legendary locations across the City of Light – from Place Vendome to Place de la Concorde, the film
is a collaboration between Knightley and Joe Wright, a creative relationship that began with Wright’s
directorial debut, the Oscar®-nominated film Pride & Prejudice, and continued with the Oscar®-nominated
Atonement.

“For me, Gabrielle Chanel is an icon and there was an incredible power emanating from all the photos of her,”
states Knightley. “When I began to delve into her history more closely, I was obviously fascinated by her
immense talent as a designer, but more than that, by her singular background.”

The commercial film’s soundtrack, “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” by James Brown is performed by the
soulful voice of Grammy® award winner, Joss Stone and was published by Warner Chappell.
Coco Mademoiselle is a fresh oriental scent created by CHANEL master perfumer Jacques Polge in 2001.
The fragrance represents the ever-evolving spirit of Coco Chanel in this feminine, sexy, young and exciting
fragrance.

A national cable television flight of 30 and 60 second spots will debut March 22, 2011. A print advertisement
shot by Mario Testino will debut in April 2011.

In April 2006, Knightley joined the legendary league of women who have represented CHANEL in global
advertising campaigns. Her elegance, beauty and modernity are some of her qualities that parallel the iconic
faces featured in the CHANEL fragrance campaigns, including Nicole Kidman, Ali McGraw, Catherine
Deneuve and Audrey Tautou for N°5, Vanessa Paradis for Coco and Anna Mouglalis for Allure Sensuelle.

Source: Chanel

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I was at the SF MOMA earlier this year and was happy to see a portrait of Mlle. Chanel in a photography exhibition of the works of Henri Cartier-Bresson.  It shows Coco in her apartment at 31 Rue Cambon in 1964.  I love how Chanel looks deep in her thoughts and it’s not posed and smiley.  It just looks like Cartier-Bresson captured a quiet moment when she was reflecting.Similar Posts:

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Last week Chanel presented its Spring 2011 Haute Couture collection. The beauty stand out was the angled eyeliner that not only was a nice contrast to the softness of the collection, but was also inspired by the black scarf in the painting of Chanel by Marie Laurencin that was interpreted by Karl Lagerfeld into a black ribbon choker.  The beauty was simple and pretty and was a nice complement to the collection.

Peter Philips, Creative Director of CHANEL Make Up used the following CHANEL products to create the runway beauty looks:
Skin prepared with HYDRAMAX + ACTIVE Nourishing Cream for Dry Skin

The Complexion

VITALUMIERE AQUA Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Makeup SPF 15
POUDRE UNIVERSELLE LIBRE  Natural Finish Loose Powder
ECLAT LUMIERE Highlighting Face Pen
CORRECTEUR PERFECTION Long Lasting Concealer

The Eyes

EXCLUSIVE CREATION OMBRE ESSENTIELLE in Gris Exquis (available July 2011)
EXCLUSIVE CREATION OMBRES TISSÉES in Beiges (available July 2011)
STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF Long Lasting Eyeliner in Ebène
CRAYON SOURCILS (available July 2011)
MASCARA INIMITABLE in Noir

The Cheeks

EXCLUSIVE CREATION OMBRES TISSÉES in Beiges (available in July 2011)
JOUES CONTRASTE Powder Blush in Rose Pétale

The Lips

SOIN TENDRE LÈVRES Hydrating Lip Treatment
EXCLUSIVE CREATION ROUGE COCO SHINE in Royallieu (available in July 2011)

The Nails

LE VERNIS Nail Colour in Tendresse

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In 1923 Laurencin was working on the costumes and sets for Les Biches (The Does) performed by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Coco Chanel, who was creating costumes for the same company’s Le Train Bleu at the time, asked the artist to paint her portrait. Laurencin painted Chanel in a languid pose draped in blue and black with one shoulder bare. The fluid lines, subtly shifting colours and the sitter’s dreamy expression are typical of Laurencin’s work, but Chanel – designer of ‘the little black dress’ and the Chanel suit – turned the painting down, saying it did not look like her.

Marie Laurencin Portrait of Mademoiselle Chanel, 1923 Oil on canvas

Laurencin was part of the Cubist circle and was one of the few women who were part of the movement but also put her own spin on it. Her use of pastel colors and fluid curvey lines differentiated her from other Cubist painters. She painted mostly women and her style suited this subject perfectly. These are some other examples of Marie Laurencin’s work. You can see her use of pastels and how Karl was inspired by her pinks and greys and transformed these hints of color into an airy, light collection perfect for spring. Review of the collection to come shortly!

Marie Laurencin LA VIE AU CHATEAU Oil on Canvas 1925

Marie Laurencin Il Bacio 1927

Marie Laurencin Femme Au Chien

• At the Ballet…
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“The story of Chanel is really a story of emotions, of images and words. It is not just a history of fashion. It is more a history of feminine behavior. It is a social history by itself.”

-Jean-Louis Froment, Curator Culture Chanel

Back in October we learned that the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art was hosting Culture Chanel an exhibit featuring items from the life of Chanel and that illustrate her relationship with the arts.  With over 400 items, curator Jean-Louis Froment brings us into Chanel’s world as she saw it and places her designs in the larger context of other artistic movements such as painting, music, dance and writing.  The exhibit also shows some of the seeds of Mlle. Chanel’s inspiration and shows how mere thoughts and experiences shaped her designs.

Wallpaper* Magazine and WWD had coverage of the event and the images that follow are republished from those sites. This exhibit is a once in a lifetime event: It’s a chronology – culturally and socially – of the influences and designs of Coco Chanel. The exhibit runs through March 14, and I truly hope that it comes to the U.S. I NEED to see this exhibit first hand! Until then, the images below will have to suffice…

**UPDATE 1.23.11 – Culture Chanel has its own site you can visit it here.

Sources:  WWD & Wallpaper*

Curator Jean-Louis Froment; Chanel No.5

French actress and Chanel brand ambassador Anna Mouglalis. She also played Coco Chanel in "Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky"

Pablo Picasso display and ink drawing

A photo of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in front of one of her many coromandel screens in 1959. Chanel collected coromandel screens but never went to China.

Origin Section of the Exhibit: This part of the exhibit focuses on Chanel's childhood where she spent some time in an orphanage run by nuns in Aubazine.

From left: Original 'Cométe' brooch, created by Gabrielle Chanel for her exhibition 'Bijoux de Diamants', 1932, © Photo Didier Roy Pen and ink image taken from pavement of the abbey of Aubazine, the orphanage where Gabrielle Chanel lived, 1996, © Alexandre Céalac 1965 - 1980 Haute Couture collection, © Photo Olivier Saillant

From left: Half-Length portrait of Catherine de' Medici, by Francois Clouet, 16th century, © RMN (Domaine de Chantilly) / René-Gabriel Ojéda Gabrielle Chanel with a white collaret by George Hoyningen-Huene, 1939, © Horst Carmen Kass wearing an outfit from Chanel's 2009 Autumn/Winter ready-to-Wear collection, by Dusan Reljin, © Dusan Reljin

From Left: Costume design for Potiphar's wife in 'Joseph's Legend' by Léon Bakst, 1914, © Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Theater and Dance Collection, don de Madame Adolph B. Spreckels Gabrielle Chanel in front of the Coromandel screens of her apartment at 31 rue Cambon, Paris by Boris Lipnitzki, 1937, © Lipnitzki/Roger-Viollet The ‘Coromandel’ coat by Karl Lagerfeld for the 1996 Autumn/Winter Chanel Haute Couture collection, © Photo Karl Lagerfeld

From Left: Portrait of Gabrielle Chanel with her dog, Gigot, at her villa ‘La Pausa’, in Roquebrune, France, circa 1930, from Collection Chanel, Paris, © D.R 'Acrobats' by Pablo Picasso, 1905, © Collection Marina Picasso/Courtesy Galerie Jan Krugier & Cie, Genève (Suisse)/Succession, Picasso 2010 Barbara Palvin wearing an outfit from CHANEL’s 2010 Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear collection by Martin Lidell, © D.R

Chanel Iconography - The Camelia: From Left: Marcel Proust in the garden of Reynaldo Hahn, Photographe Inconnu, 1905, © Snark/Art Resource, NY ‘The Lady of the Camellias’ printed book, Alexandre Dumas Fils, 1858, © Musée de la Dame aux Camélias Amber Valletta wearing an outfit from Chanel’s 1995 Autumn/Winter Ready-to-Wear collection, © Photo Peter Lindbergh

Chanel Iconography - The Wheat Shaft: From Left: Gabrielle Chanel leaning against a fireplace in her apartment, photo by Cecil Beaton, 1965, © Beaton/Vogue/Condé Nast Archive Ear of Wheat by Salvador Dali, 1947, © Salvador Dali, Fondation Gala-Salvador Dali, ADAGP, Paris 2010 Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel’s 2010 Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear collection, © Photo Karl Lagerfeld/Chanel

Chanel Iconography - The Number 5: From Left: Cover project for the exhibition catalogue of 1921 by Alexander Rodchenko, © A. Rodchenko & V. Stepanova archive/ADAGP Paris 2010 Bottle of Chanel N°5 perfume, from Collection Chanel, Paris, © Photo Didier Roy ‘The Five Fingers’ musical score by Igor Stravinsky, 1921, from Collection Chanel, Paris, © Copyright 1922 Chester Music Ltd worldwide

From Left: Vogue Paris, 1 November 1926, © Courtesy Vogue Paris 'Figure' by Pablo Picasso, Avignon, © Marina Picasso Collection, courtesy Galerie Jan Krugier & Cie, Geneva / Succession Picasso 2010 Honor Fraser wearing a dress from Chanel’s 1996 Autumn/Winter Ready-to-Wear collection, © photo by Gilles Bensimon

The influcence of the nuns of Aubazine. From Left: Head of ‘La Bernardine’, 15th/16th century sculpture, © Région Limousin. Service de l’Inventaire et du Patrimoine Culturel/Philippe Rivière. Ville de Brive-la-Gaillarde – Musée Labenche d’art et d’histoire Bianca Balti wearing an outfit from Chanel’s 2010 Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear collection, © Photo Camilla Åkrans Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, 1990 Autumn/Winter Haute Couture collection, © Photo Olivier Saillant

Haute Couture Chanel dress designed by Karl Lagerfeld for the 1990 Fall/Winter Collection. This dress appears to have been inspired by Chanel's love of coromandel screens.

• “Chanel Culture” Exhibit at Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art
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Last month, we heard rumors about Blake Lively taking on the role of brand ambassador for a Chanel handbag line.  We speculated that it may be for the Chanel Coco Cocoon collection with Blake following in the footsteps of Lily Allen and Vanessa Paradis.  Instead, WWD has just reported that Blake Lively is the face of a new line of Chanel handbags – the Mademoiselle bag.

First seen in the Chanel 2010/2011 Cruise show, the Mademoiselle bag is an oblong shaped bag featuring the brand’s signature quilting, chain strap and double-C logo.  Available in an array of colors and fabrics (cloth jersey, lambskin, calfskin, alligator, satin and shagreen), the bag retails for $2,000 – $3,300 for base ranges and over $30,000 for exotic skins.

Karl shot the campaign in Paris at the historic 31 Rue Cambon on the storied Chanel mirrored staircase that Mademoiselle herself would sit and watch her collection shows.  When asked why he chose Blake Lively, Karl stated:  “She’s full of life…She’s a kind of American dream girl…I think she will become a great actress.”

The ads for the new Chanel Mademoiselle bags will begin to surface in April 2011 magazines – I can’t wait to see the campaign!Similar Posts:

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