"I was thinking of quirky ladies," Virginie Viard tells of her fall haute couture line for Chanel. In particular, Viard remembered Karl Lagerfeld heading off to parties with his sometime muse, the madcap Princess Diane de Beauvau-Craon, who as a teenage debutante got an American crewcut to give a kind of punk edge to the beautiful but detested pink dress her mother had chosen for her coming-out ball. "The dream for me is to live with her around," Lagerfeld said of de Beauvau-Craon when he spoke to Vogue ("The Country Girl," June 1990), "because life must never be flat. She offers a spirit of light and she is deeply spiritual." 

In an edited collection of 30 pieces, after the simplicity of the spring couture, influenced by Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel's schoolgirl uniforms at the Aubazine convent, Viard decided to swing back to quiet opulence for fall. Since the collection will be primarily seen via photography (Mikael Jansson shot the look book and haute couture customers will also receive a portfolio of more documentary and informative pictures), Viard was thinking of "things I would not do in a show — punk fashion, fine jewelry." Such Chanel haute bijoux include yellow diamond lions (Chanel herself was a Leo), and Viard mentions that "I love them".

In addition, the only costume jewelry used in the collection is the Goossens cabochon stones — the storied Parisian house whose creator Robert Goossens collaborated with Chanel in the late 1950s. Viard uses those classic, Byzantine-inspired jewels on a black and white tweed jacket as embroidery elements. Tweed figures big in the day and night collection: a knee-length tunic worn over boot-leg trousers, or a minidress with the classic Chanel braid trim reworked in rhinestones. There is more impressive trompe l'oeil in the allover Lesage embroidery of a lean jacket worn with an ankle-long skirt, or in the Emmanuelle Vernoux – embroidered sleeves of a decorous wool ball gown, or in the Montex sequin and wool tufts of an off-the-shoulder mini dress. Ten looks are designed using tweeds made from Vimar 1991 fantasy yarns, another luxury fashion supplier recently acquired by Chanel to add such magical names as the Lesage, Montex, and Cécile Henri embroiderers and plumassier Lemarié to its stable.

Viard is always keen to highlight the remarkable work of the great suppliers of Paris, but she does so with an elegance that actually seems ideal. 

The de Beauvau-Craon touch erupts in the form of a short frothy taffeta dress and faille ball tops, or a full-skirted retro cocktail dress of floral black and white lace spliced with lacquered pink lace — Viard calls it "my doll" — and in trendy feather mohawk bangs worn in the hair, and lace-up court shoes that would have been suitable for dancing the night away in the great '80s nightspots, such as Le Palace and Les Bain Douches. 

Yet Viard also offers elegant sophistication in items that include a sheath of inky faille with bishop sleeves or a formal evening gown of gray steel silk velvet, discreetly dusted with waist and cuff embroidery, and jackets often worn with all-in-one stocking pant boots. The looks are best characterized by Viard as "casual and grand," and this is a well-behaved couture that whispers but never cries out.

"Haute couture?" Viard's questions. "It is forever; it is for always."

Still waiting for Yohji Yamamoto and Rick Owens men's digital shows to be published later today on Paris Fashion Week official website.

Discover the look from the whole Chanel fall-winter 2020-2021 couture collection designed by the artistic director of the fashion house Virginie Viard and photographed by Mikael Jansson.

KARL LAGERFELD INSPIRES THE CHANEL FW2021 COUTURE COLLECTION

When I was younger, I would associate wearing a brooch with the women over a certain age. I grew up watching them on my grandmother - that lady was beautiful and classy. While I was a little girl, I loved their style, and I still do, I have also inherited some fabulous pieces of my grandmother's clothing. Yet I'd never considered wearing a brooch myself. Certainly not my type. That's been for sophisticated grown-up ladies, and I was more of a rock chic bracelet kid. 

I like to think I am 21 forever, but I am certainly not. And slowly but steadily my style was developing and changing naturally. I found this classic Chanel CC brooch a few years ago. And though they have always been in front of my eyes, if that makes any sense, I have never seen them. 

Now I see them showcasing beautiful dresses on ladies of all ages. I developed a fascination for myself. There is pure love indeed. So, I purchased my very first Chanel brooch in their flagship store at 31 Rue Cambon when I came to Paris a few years ago. Wrapped in the iconic white box of the flagship store, this was a stunning brooch in light gold with tiny little crystals.

Chanel brooches come in a vast variety of shapes and materials. Silver, gold, with pearls or crystals, or both, enamel, in plexiglass, or just plain and simple uber-traditional. Chanel releases a new collection every season. You want to own more than one of them, of course! 

I'm still a bracelet girl and love a good arm candy, but a brooch, or two, or even three if you dare, is now also a natural part of my uniform. I love how the brooch lifts your outfit immediately, no matter how casual or formal your starting point might be. 

They can be used for any kind of outfit. A denim jacket, a blazer, a utility jacket, a shirt, a knitted sweater. You can pin it on a beanie or on a beret too. Or even in your hair as a super chic pin. 

Do you also remember those Mugler star-shaped brooches reminding of the soviet Moscow?

The Chanel brooch is a classic piece that can lift an outfit to another level.

Chanel S. A. is a privately held company owned by Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Coco Chanel's early business partner Pierre Wertheimer.

Throughout World War II, Coco Chanel shut down her boutique at Maison Chanel — leaving only jewelry and perfumery for sale — and moved to the Hôtel Ritz Paris, where she lived with her partner, Hans Günther von Dincklage, a Nazi intelligence agent. After invading France in June 1940, the Nazis set up the Parisian occupation headquarters at the Hôtel Meurice, on Rue de la Rivoli, next to the Louvre Museum, and just around the corner from the trendy Maison Chanel S.A., at 31 rue Cambon. 

Meanwhile, in mid-1940, considering the official anti-Semitism of the Nazi occupation, Pierre Wertheimer, an early business partner of Coco Chanel,  and his family had fled France to the U.S. Later, in 1941, Coco Chanel attempted to take charge of Parfums Chanel's company but was blocked by an administrative committee that disallowed her sole disposition of the perfumery. Having foreseen the Nazi occupation policy of seizure and expropriation of Jewish business and assets in France by Germany, the majority partner, Pierre Wertheimer, had earlier, in May 1940, appointed Felix Amiot, a French Christian industrialist, as the "Aryan" proxy whose legal control of the business of Parfums Chanel proved politically acceptable to the Nazis, who then allowed the perfume enterprise to continue operating their business. 

Occupied France was full of rumors that Coco Chanel was a Nazi collaborator; her clandestine identity was Abwehr's secret agent 7124, codenamed "Westminster." As such, by order of the Sicherheitsdienst's General Walter Schellenberg, Chanel was sent to London on a mission to get in touch with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and discuss the details of a separate peace" which was a plan proposed by Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, seeking to avoid surrendering Soviet Russians to the Red Army. 

By the conclusion of War, after France's Allied liberation, Chanel was arrested for collaborating with the Nazis. In September 1944, Chanel was summoned by the Free French Purge Committee, the épuration, for interrogation re her collaborationism, yet without documentary evidence or witnesses of her collaboration with the Nazis, and due to Churchill's secret intervention on her behalf, the épuration released Coco Chanel from arrest as a traitor to France. After being liberated by Churchill's political grace, the severity of Chanel's Nazi collaboration allegations made it difficult for her to live in France; so Coco Chanel and her German husband, Hans Günther von Dincklage, went to Switzerland for eight years in exile. 

In the post-war period, during the Swiss exile of Coco Chanel from France, Pierre Wertheimer returned to Paris and regained formal administrative control over the business holdings of his family — including control over Parfums Chanel, the perfumery established with his venture capital, and successful because of the name of Chanel. 

In Switzerland, the news aroused Coco Chanel's anger at having been exploited by her business partner, for only ten percent of the money. So, she set up a Swiss parfumerie to manufacture and sell her "Chanel perfumes." In addition, Wertheimer, Parfums Chanel's majority capital stock owner, saw his business interests threatened, and infringe on his commercial rights because he had no legally exclusive rights to the name of Chanel. Nevertheless, Wertheimer avoided a lawsuit against Coco Chanel for trademark infringement, lest it harms the business image and the creative integrity of his Chanel-brand perfumery. 

Wisely, Pierre Wertheimer settled his business- and commercial-rights quarrel with Chanel and, in May 1947, they renegotiated the 1924 contract establishing Parfums Chanel — she was paid $400,000 in cash (wartime profits from the No. 5 de Chanel perfume sales); assigned a 2.0 percent running royalty from the No. 5 perfumery sales; assigned limited commercial rights to sell her Chanel perfumes in Switzerland and granted a monthly regular fixed sum that paid all of her expenses. Gabrielle Chanel closed her Swiss perfumery business in exchange and sold to Parfums Chanel the full rights to the name "Coco Chanel."

Would you prefer to read the history of Maisons Mugler or Courreges creation next time? Or maybe both - please let us know?

In her youth, Gabrielle Chanel gained the nickname Coco from her time as a chanteuse.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic little by little getting under control, the French luxury goods company Chanel predicts that the lingering economic effects will affect the luxury sector for at least the next two years. 

“We expect that the global climate will continue to affect the luxury segment negatively for at least the next 24 months,” says Chanel's CFO Philippe Blondiaux in an interview with Reuters. Despite these predictions, the group has seen a growth of 13 percent since 2019 and expects to be profitable at the end of the year. Previously having to shut down many of its retail locations, nearly 85 percent of the group's stores have now reopened, with a massive sales bounce in China going over 100 percent for a few weeks. According to the CFO, activity is beginning to resume in Paris, Milan and Berlin too. "This incredibly strong performance with the local clientele will not be enough to compensate for the absence of international business, the absence of international visitors and the fact that our duty-free business is still largely closed," said Blondiaux. Chanel has agreed to reduce promotional expenses and advertisements, slash inventory, as well as reworking fashion shows to prepare for the bleak future. 

Looking at the bigger picture, consulting firm Bain & Company says the $310-billion luxury goods market can see revenues fall by up to 35 percent this year.

Chanel S.A. It is a private French company owned by Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer, who was the couturière Coco Chanel's early business partner. Chanel is a luxury company focusing on high fashion and ready-made clothes, luxury products, and accessories. From her time as a chanteuse, Gabrielle Chanel earned the nickname Coco in her youth. As a fashion designer, CC catered to women's taste for elegance in dress, with shirts and suits, trousers and skirts, and jewelry of simple design, that replaced the opulent, over-designed, and constrictive clothes and accessories of the 19th-century fashion. Fashion models, actresses, and icons have personified the Chanel product brands, including Catherine Deneuve, Carole Bouquet, Nicole Kidman, Anna Mouglalis, Jackie Kennedy, Audrey Tautou, Kristen Stewart, Keira Knightley, Jennie Kim, Cara Delevingne, Marilyn Monroe and others.

Looking forward to hearing from big fashion houses such as Alexander Wang or Mugler about their future plans and prognoses.

Despite predicting a profitable year overall.

CHANEL: CORONAVIRUS WILL AFFECT LUXURY SEGMENT FOR AT LEAST NEXT TWO YEARS

Luxury giant Chanel did something in the brand's history yesterday that has never been done before: presented the new collection without staging a fashion show. No space ships, no big malls, no re-created airports — just a few lookbook pictures and some images of Mediterranean landscapes published on Instagram. 

This meant, for once, that the focus was on the clothes now, rather than on the massive spectacles and backdrops from previous big-budget shows. The Cruise 2021 collection, which was supposed to be shown on Capri Island last month, immediately drew some strong user opinions and reactions. 

"Without the fanfare of a major runway show, one wonders: Is the Chanel Resort collection all that special?" writer Alexandra Mondalek posted on Twitter, sparking a (mostly one-sided) debate about the clothes designed by Virginie Viard, the creative director of Chanel. 

Among the big offenders were the denim capris and cropped Look 29 cardigan and Look 9 high-waisted denim featuring tweed patchwork. The general atmosphere was relatively relaxed, and in the minds of many users, most people would like to forget a very particular period of the early 2000s. 

Comparisons to pieces from ASOS and Topshop were a common point brought up, but several also noted how Viard's esthetic is beginning to depart even further from Karl Lagerfeld's artistic framework when he was in the helm. 

Some also wondered who the target market was after seeing how different from Karl's creations the mood was. "People who have too much money and not enough taste," said Sarah Schijen, the editorial strategist and former BOF writer. "Which is why it's always going to sell. Chanel isn't here for the masses, not even the trendy select committee. They know their customer and are supplying them, you just need to look at the show attendees to see that." 

The company has also made headlines today for doubling down the format of showing several times a year at a time when most designers are calling on the industry to cut its collection production to only two times a year. "You don't need to see this 6x a year," tweeted the collection's editor and influencer Chrissy Rutherford. 

Vanessa Friedman, the New York Times fashion critic, even went as far as to call it a "multi-level disappointment," particularly since it seemed to ignore today's world contexts. "This was more like a return to the escapist shortcomings of the past in high fashion than a significant step into the future," she wrote.

Hoping that the upcoming big brands' virtual collections are going to live up to our expectations: looking forward to seeing Mugler, Courreges and Saint Laurent.

"It's completely out of touch. She says she never been to Capri, the collection is "inspired by Capri, or south of France, or whatever".

CHANEL UNVEILED THEIR VIRTUAL CRUISE COLLECTION: WE MISS THE ROCKET SHIPS

Mark Seliger is a Portrait master. The Texan photographer captured iconic photographs during his thirty-year career from his first pictures for Rolling Stones, then for GQ and Vanity Fair, to his personal collection. Mark Seliger made black and white portraits his signature between his series of political figures such as Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and Malala or of celebrities including Billy Porter, Kim Kardashian and Leonardo Di Caprio. Mark Seliger's talent will also benefit the music world, with the most influential artists of their time. Below is a throwback to 10 iconic musicians' portraits. 

Born in Amarillo, Texas, in 1959, before moving to New York City in the 1980s, Seliger graduated from the Houston High School for Performing & Visual Arts and East Texas State University. He was the Chief Photographer of Rolling Stone magazine by 1992, traveling the globe and shooting for the publication more than 150 covers. 

Seliger has worked for Condé Nast since 2002 where he would regularly collaborate with Vanity Fair and GQ as well as Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Italian Vogue shooting campaigns for major fashion houses such as Chanel, Saint Laurent or Courreges. Think of Apple, Dom Perignon, Levi Strauss, Amazon, Ralph Lauren, Ray-Ban and Rolex - the photographer has also been responsible for several unforgettable promotional campaigns. 

As for his striking portraits of celebrities, he says, "This is about trust. If you communicate well and report your intentions to them, they will respect you."

"Since the mid-1990s I have been working with the Stones and I probably photographed Keith Richards the most. He's a real gentleman, very wise and very intelligent. He's the best subject you're going to ever get: funny, sharp and engaged."

"The challenge of course is to do something unique because he's always depicted with a cigarette. He once said photographers wanted to kill him because we always ask him to smoke."

Kurt Cobain: "The blueness of his eyes had something very beautiful in it"

"During the Nevermind tour, I first photographed Nirvana in Australia, and it had been very unruly. Kurt arrived in a t-shirt that said "Corporate Magazines Still Suck" and I was quite distressed by what Rolling Stone would have thought. We did run the image as a cover, though, which meant he was very relaxed and cooperative with me the next time I met with Kurt."

"This shot was taken in Michigan, at Kalamazoo. My sister sent me the heads of those vintage dolls, and I bought some rose bushes; we built this little altar and let it deteriorate for a couple of days."

"I'm not entirely sure where my inspiration came from but I think it was from watching Nirvana's videos and listening to their lyrics, the sadness of Kurt's voice and the concern for life, death and decline."

"For doing the picture, Kurt was very spontaneous and there was something very beautiful about the blueness of his eyes and his dead stare. And, two months later, we got the tragic news he'd died. Since that, I have not looked at those photos for a long time."

“It’s really enjoyable because it takes the onus off of photographing just portraiture and actually building a story.”

10 ICONIC PORTRAITS OF MUSICIANS SHOT BY MARK SELIGER

Last year, in a lavish display at the Grand Palais in Paris, Chanel presented their cruise collection with a set that transformed the cavernous space into a train platform, with the railways acting as the frontiers of the catwalk. There was Claudia Schiffer, and Keira Knightley too, applauding the candy-bright jackets that many fashion critics thought was a genius stroke from the new creative director (or in Chanel's vernacular, artistic director of the fashion follections) Virginie Viard. It had been a scene, as they say. 

There are really special things this year. Chanel made the decision in March to cancel their cruise show, which would have taken place in Capri – the perfect setting for a holiday collection, one might imagine. For a company that has in the past set their clothing collections against such backdrops as a rocket ship, a store, an airport, a circus, a man-made beach and a library, canceling it entirely is a first, and one that the brand hopes not to repeat. 

"It's a shame for everyone," says Chanel's global fashion president, Bruno Pavlovsky just days before the house's cruise collection will be presented as a series of online content entitled Balade en Méditerranée. Instead of a decadent set on the sun-drenched Italian island, the brand showed a range of silhouettes and videos on their web platforms on Monday, instead. 

"We'd been working on the collection and show for the past six months, we were so excited to go to Capri. One of the things about Capri that would have been so incredible is its natural beauty; the lights, the color, the Mediterranean's unique beauty, particularly at this time of year."

"The brands must decide what they plan to do. Any label can do whatever they want. But I think Paris has a good mutual interest in promoting the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Style [which is organizing Fashion Weeks]. Brands can decide not to participate but that will make life more difficult at the end of the day."

We are hoping to see Courreges and Mugler's online shows as soon as possible. We will keep you posted.

Pavlovsky: Our mindset is to be careful, we don’t want to go too fast. It’s not about celebrating so much but about getting back to something much easier, more normal, by September.

How do you pick a decade's most important collections? The ones which have had a lasting impact? As far as runways are concerned, the 2010s started with New York's Spring 2010 shows in September 2009; they ended when haute couture shows wrapped up in Paris in the Fall of 2019. 

As for outcomes? Rei Kawakubo's minimalist manifesto of Comme des Garcons first collection on our list and the sharp match with a sustainability backstory that Sarah Burton has created at Alexander McQueen for 2019. That paints a picture of a ten-year shift from chic utilitarianism influenced by the Great Recession to resourceful elegance informed by climate change terrors. It was the years that produced the most news in the middle of the decade. 

No surprise, the list contains lots of new beginnings — the industry loves nothing more than a fresh start. But an era-defining, influencing swan song also made the cut. In our mix you will find career highs together with the collections that have changed the course of fashion — the silhouette of the clothes and the look of the models who wore them. If the 2010s were a decade of change, this list was nevertheless shaped and molded by the dominant forces of the era. Iconic labels edged out fierce independents, and male designers outnumbered females. But who knows for how long: Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior, Clare Waight Keller at Givenchy, Virginie Viard at Chanel - this is the story of the recent haute couture shows. 

Freedom of expression was always a thing for Rick Owens, but here he opened the door to a new chapter, liberating himself from the ancient rules of fashion for good and jumping into a new era of runway diversity in the process.

Here, our top 10 collections of the 2010s, in chronological order.

After much debate, the enthusiastic, idiosyncratic lists were whittled down to an essential, agreed-upon 10.

10 OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTIONS OF THE 2010S

Nowadays, when fashion lovers can watch live streaming of all their favorite fashion shows on the Internet, while at the same time sharing their personal visual insight and experience on social media, the power that fashion brands have to send off their message to the public has never had more potential to reach the most diverse audiences. For the finale of their Spring/Summer 2015 at Paris Fashion Week, the creative director of Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, accompanied models in a feminism protest. He completely based the Chanel SS15 collection runway show on typographic messages. The raw cut, handwritten typography with feminist statements on boards that models carried through the catwalk, revived Coco Chanel legacy of masculine femininity.

This way, Chanel spoke the strong message of resolution, decisiveness, strength and determination to women around the world through a feminist march, and made clear that its brand consumers embody these same categories and standards.

The feminist messages appeared literally on some of the most covetable accessories (‘Ladies First’ read the gilded text on a minibag) while other slogans (‘Vote Coco’ and 'Be Your Own Stylist') appeal to fashion fan-girls over the world.

Recently, Extinction Rebellion activists stopped traffic and protested near the venue for Victoria Beckham's London fashion show. Extinction Rebellion is a civil disobedience movement that wants governments to address climate change in part by declaring it an emergency and by cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2025.

Chanel speaking the strong message of resolution, decisiveness, strength and determination to women around the world through a feminist march, and made clear that its brand consumers embody these same categories and standards.

CHANEL 2015: TYPOGRAPHIC MESSAGES OF A FEMINIST PROTEST

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