Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld: Mademoiselle and Monsieur
By Timothy Hagy
(Photos by Reuters)
PARIS, July 9, 2003/ FW/ --- According to a French lady of a certain age, one who began her
career as a teenage employee of the Chanel Haute Couture boutique on Rue Cambon, Mademoiselle
was a holy terror.
She arrived for work promptly at 2 each afternoon, hunched; though immaculately attired in
a crisp suit, a hat, and sparkling with fine jewelry.
As Mademoiselle passed the front door, a general alarm was issued for models on the second
floor to jump to attention.
High tension permeated the boutique until she disappeared to lunch with Salvador Dali.
Years later, the atelier staff still jumps to attention, though now it is Karl Lagerfeld
who enters.
Monsieur lunches frequently with Hedi Slimane and Stephen Gan, then photographs stars
in his spare time.
Backstage at the recent Dior Homme show, he admitted that he mixes and matches his personal
wardrobe.
That evening he wore a twinkling jacket by Hedi Slimane, a high collar Hilditch and Key shirt,
a thin tie, and a massive Hédiard diamond brooch.
When complemented on his perennially dazzling attire, he responded "Thank you. I do try".
So it's not surprising that Karl Lagerfeld has so succinctly and sublimely captured
Mademoiselle at Chanel, mixing and matching her ideas and refining her style, at times
with regal simplicity, at times with a dash of sensuous panache.
Chanel's couture show for Fall / Winter 2003-04 was staged in the cloisters of an old Abbey,
which Karl described after the show as the most beautiful spot in Paris.
While other designers have juiced up their collections with color this couture season,
Chanel remained predominately black and white.
Collars were high and often trimmed in fur or chiffon.
Tapered thin suits came with pleated knee-length skirts and were worn with mousseline
blouses and ties embroidered with camellias, while lambskin slacks and elbow-length leather
gloves gave the collection a terse elegance.
The linear effect extended to eveningwear when satin was wrapped and draped in pale mint
and lavender.
Super model Linda Evangelista glided through the grounds in the wedding dress, and escorted
by Karl, a pectoral cross around his neck, looked headed for the Abbey's altar.
But backstage, it was another woman who was on Karl Lagerfeld's mind - Nicole Kidman,
to be exact.
When reporters asked Monsieur if the rumors that the Oscar-winning actress will be the next
face for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld answered, "It's not a done deal, so I can't tell you anything."
Then he added that he would love to have Nicole Kidman by his side. "She's the best of the
best," he commented.
Monsieur is also mum about the amount of Kidman's contract which is rumored to be more than
$7 million.
"I'm not responsible for Chanel's accounting," was Karl Lagerfeld's reply when reporters asked
him.
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