2019-10-01 Singapore Tatler

STYLE / Jewellery

IMAGES: COLLECTION CHANEL AND CHANEL FINE JEWELLERY; OLIVIER SAILLANT (APARTMENT); ROMANOV EMPIRE (RUSSIAN ARMY); HULTON ARCHIVE (ANNA PAVLOVNA)

T

herearetimeswhenimaginationcan be

strongerthanreality—thatcertainly was

thecaseforGabrielle“Coco”Chanel.

ShenevervisitedRussia,butthecountry’s

influencecanbefeltinmanyofher

creations.Onecanevenseethisin her

apartmentat 31 rueCambon,wherea largemirror with

a sculptedframefeaturinga two-headedeagledepicting

ImperialRussiaservedasananchorofherlivingspace.

“TheRussiansfascinateme,”Cocooncesaidto her

friend,FrenchauthorPaulMorand.Thiscuriosity was

largelyinformedbytheintellectualandaristocratic

milieuthatsheflourishedin,allowingforinteresting

encounterssuchasa romancewiththeGrandDuke

DmitriPavlovich,thecousinofTsarNicholasII.

Coco had known the Grand Duke since 1911; they met

Chanel’s latest high jewellery collection,

Le Paris Russe de Chanel, is a paean to

Coco Chanel’s deep fascination with

Russia and all the mystery it holds

BY KISSA CASTAÑEDA

An ornate mirror holding court at

Mademoiselle Chanel’s apartment

in Paris; Blé Maria brooch in

yellow and white gold with yellow

sapphire, pink spinels, mandarin

garnets, coloured tourmalines

and diamonds (right)

The Russian army during the First World War in 1916

FROM RUSSIA,

WITH LOVE

134 singapore tatler. october 2019