Recently I saw Rihanna possibly collaborating with Chanel (?!). She was given a tour of the infamous 31 Rue Cambon apartment, in the Ritz Hotel, where Coco herself spent her fabulous life since she became the most wanted designer in the history. Obviously it made me green with envy, but also made me dig more and find photos of the apartment where Coco made it all happen. I would have expected something clean-cut, black and white, but I had a surprise to see the opulence and the Oriental inspirations. You can see where Karl gets his inspiration from, because you will see many iconic symbols that you know from Chanel collections and advertisements.
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| Wheat symbolizes prosperity and can be see throughout Coco's apartment. |
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| Karl Lagerfeld sprinkeled ears of wheat in the Spring-Summer 2010 collection: showers of golden wheat ears were embroidered or cropped up on chain belts, bracelets, headbands, necklaces and shirt fronts. |
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| Oh, the chandelier! Coco believed in the healing power of crystals. She had this custom made. If you look closely, you can see the iconic "5's". |
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| This salon screams of history. This is where Coco hosted many of her famous friends like Elizabeth Taylor, Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso. |
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| The library with hard cover books. Coco was a Leo and you will see a lot of lion statues displayed. Also, she was very superstitious (you can see the cross that she used to feel protected). |
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| Coco was photographed many times in this iconic white chair. The octagonal shape of the mirror was the inspiration for the cap of Chanel No. 5. |
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| This gorgeous couch was designed by Coco. She wanted to be very comfortable. She used suede, which was very cutting edge. |
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| An example of the opulence I was talking about. Here West meets East, Oriental mixed with Occident. |
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| The clear table has an interesting story. Coco asked her designer to do something clean and simple to have all the jewelry, make-up, skincare and perfume merchandised. The point was to enhance the beauty of the product. She was one of the first to use this marketing trick. |
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Chanel's desk and her very own glasses. The place where all the magic happened.
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| The famous staircase where Coco would sit during her fashion shows. Thanks to the mirrors she could see everything taking place, but no one would see her. She wanted to see the immediate reaction of the clients and journalists. |
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| The iconic camellia flower. It represents purity and longevity in Asian culture. |
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The birdcage reminds us about the Vanessa Paradis fragrance campain for "Coco".
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I don't know about you, but after seeing this, I feel magical. Like I've seen a private part of her life which takes me to that time when everything was so beautiful.
