2019-10-01 Singapore Tatler

“IT IS THE RUSSIANS

WHO HAVE TAUGHT

WOMEN THAT IT IS

NOT DISHONOURABLE

TO WORK. MY GRAND

DUCHESSES WORKED

FOR ME AS KNITTERS”

— GABRIELLE “COCO” CHANEL

againinBiarritzalmostadecadelaterand had “a brief and

intenseaffair”.

Themeetingofmindswasfurtherreinforced by

countlessotherartistsshemetalongtheway including

Stravinsky,Diaghilev,aswellasthedancers and

choreographersofBalletsRusseswhowere all fleeing

theRussianRevolution.Itwassaidthata“RussianParis”

unfoldedduringthisperiod,andthatareaswithinthe

15thand16tharrondissementsbegantotake on a Russian

flair.Itwastheserendipitousencounterscoupled with this

pivotalmomentinhistorythatcemented Coco’s affinity

withRussia,athemeseeninhercreations in the 1920s and

thatpermeatesthehouse’sdesignlanguage to this day.

HIGHLIGHTREEL

ThispartofCoco’slifewasthestartingpointfor

PatriceLeguéreau,directorofChanel’sjewellerystudio,to

createthe69-piecehighjewellerycollectioncalledLeParis

Russede Chanel. “Everything starts from an idea, and in

this case it was Coco’s intense fascination with Russia,

which I put to paper. I always create a large number of

sketches and from there we see what can be realised. For

one final design, there are 10 to 30 drawings behind them.

I like to keep the door open at first, and close them by

choosing to do a precise number of pieces,” he shared.

Apart from delving into Coco’s personal history,

Leguéreau also made it a point to visit Russia when the

Blé Maria tiara in yellow and white gold

with pink spinels, mandarin garnets,

coloured tourmalines and diamonds

(above); Medaille Solaire transformable

necklace in white and yellow gold with

diamonds (top right)

Gabrielle
Chanel and the
Grand Duke
Dmitri Pavlovich
(above right) in
a photograph
taken in 1920; the
Grand Duchess
Maria Pavlovna
in costume
circa 1910
(right) opened
an embroidery
workshop called
Kitmir; a sketch
of the Folklore
bracelet in white
and yellow gold
with enamel, blue
and pink sapphires,
mandarin and
tsavorite garnets,
cultured pearls and
diamonds (below)

singapore tatler. october 2019 135