Karl Lagerfeld and his arrival at Chanel in 1984.
"They have just signed with Inès de la Fressange, who will be the face of Chanel and on whom (and for whom) I will design everything."
Sold
"They have just signed with Inès de la Fressange, who will be the face of Chanel and on whom (and for whom) I will design everything."
Sold
Autographed letter signed.
Six folio pages on paper bearing his initials. No place of issue [1984]
"They have just signed with Inès de la Fressange, who will be the face of Chanel and on whom (and for whom) I will design everything."
A formidable letter from the German couturier, newly invested at Chanel, who is organizing the launch of the Coco as well as highlighting its muse Inès de la Fressange.
"My dear Lorraine, I was delighted to hear from you. I've always tried to find a way to get you an interesting position in my business. This time I think I've found it. You're going to receive a call from Michel Pietrini, the president of Chanel, who would like to speak with you and has a proposal for you."
Initially at Chanel, the couture and ready-to-wear were managed by the same person, but things grew so much that we had to separate everything (while still remaining together). Everyone works with everyone else, but we have two couture collections, two ready-to-wear collections, one cruise collection, and two capsule collections. That makes a total of seven collections. Martine Cartageni is in charge of couture, but Marianne Houdin, who was in charge of ready-to-wear, left to work for me at KL because she only got along with me, and the people at Chanel didn't like her, and she hated them (wrongly, but since she was 100% devoted to me, I didn't hold it against her). Martine had thought she could coordinate everything with assistants, but it's impossible. You need an iron fist like yours to oversee all the ready-to-wear collections (five per year). One person can't keep track of seven people, especially since their schedules will inevitably overlap. Gilles Dufour is my personal assistant in all of this, but he doesn't handle the organization, and since I'm very busy with other things, I need everything to run smoothly and efficiently without wasting my time.
If you manage to work something out with Pietrini amidst all this, I'd be thrilled. At some point, everyone helps everyone else, but you need someone in charge of each department. I think you're perfect for ready-to-wear. I called your house before giving your number to Pietrini, but no answer. I'm going to New York for five days. I'll be back on Monday. I hope you'll have seen Pietrini before then because it's urgent. We have to finish the Cruise collection by June 15th, the Capsule collection by early September, and ready-to-wear by October 15th, with Haute Couture coming up at the end of July. This time it has to be particularly good because they're launching a new perfume ("Coco," but we can't say the name yet), officially called Le 31. They've just signed Inès de la Fressange, who will be the face of Chanel, and on whom (and for whom) I'll be designing everything because she's the ideal embodiment of this look . Lots of love, Karl.
Coco is a fragrance from the House of Chanel, created in 1984 (as our letter indicates) by perfumer Jacques Polge. Its name, of course, pays homage to the founder of the House, Coco Chanel. The fragrance was initially represented by Inès de la Fressange; Vanessa Paradis later succeeded her as its face.
In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld was appointed artistic director for all of Chanel's "Haute Couture, ready-to-wear and accessories collections," which were then facing serious difficulties. Lagerfeld was tasked with reviving the brand and, in 1984, chose Inès de la Fressange to represent the image of Chanel.