THE GOLDEN YEARS OF KARL LAGERFELD FOR CHANEL
FROM THE MOUNA AYOUB HAUTE COUTURE COLLECTION

- HISTORIC AUCTION -

Monday 20th of November 2023, at 18h30,
At the Pavillon Gabriel, 5 Av. Gabriel, 75008 Paris

Evening coat embroidered by Lesage, "Coromandel" model
Chanel Haute Couture Collection, Autumn - Winter 1996 / 1997
Estimate : 150.000 € - 200.000 €

labelled and numbered 76227, the black Hurel organza ground embroidered by Lesage with motifs including figures in landscapes, rustic buildings, ducks, on a black sequined ground, partially lined in black satin with transparent black organza panels to reveal the skilled reverse work of the embroiderers, thirteen buttons by Desrues with gilt chain edges and pearl bead centres, side slits, bust 91cm, 36in The coat construction took 135 hours with a further 800 hours for the exquisite Lesage embroidery.

Coco’s sumptuous apartment at 31 Rue Cambon was situated above her boutique and public salons. It consisted of three rooms that were crammed with a melange of Louis XVI furniture, Greek 5th sculpture, Chinese 18th century bronze deer, Italian Baroque boisierie, framed Chinese fans, a large mounted sculptural meteorite fragment, all presented against a backdrop of tall 18th century Coromandel screens. The screens were not only beautiful but were versatile elements of interior design as they but could be moved as her taste and whim dictated. The Coromandel screens were among Coco’s most prized possessions, and she often chose to be photographed standing before them (See Cecil Beaton 1937 portrait of Coco). Her interest in the Orient is believed to have been influenced by her relationship with Boy (Arthur) Capel, a distinguished and wealthy young Englishman whom she met in the early 1910s, eventually becoming his mistress. The pair trawled the antique shops of Europe acquiring works of art. Boy was fascinated by Buddhism, Hinduism, Esoterism and occult sciences. He encouraged Coco’s early, formative career and financed her first shop on Rue Cambon. He tragically died in a car accident in 1919 and she was left heartbroken.

These screens are inseparable from Chanel’s famed personal style.

Although Coco herself did not use oriental elements in her own designs – it was Karl Lagerfeld who was to recognise and exploit the full potential of the screens in terms of fashion design. He invited his friend Monsieur Francois Lesage to visit Chanel’s apartment to inspect the screens and together they collaborated on the embroidery design. Maison Lesage had not worked with Chanel since their inception in 1924 as they had produced work for her arch-rival Elsa Schiaparelli. However, under Lagerfeld’s tenure since 1983, they produced fine embroideries for the majority of the Chanel haute couture collections. The Coromandel coats were a real magnum opus for the Lesage, so much so that a detail of the embroidery from this Coromandel coat is used on the cover of their own book ’Lesage’ by Lydia Kamitsis. Lesage became part of Chanel’s Metiers d’Art in 2002.

For his 1996-97 haute couture collection (which Vogue pronounced ‘An Ode to Coco’) Lagerfeld designed three coats inspired by the screens – two long black sequined examples -one with mandarin -collar gold and red embroidery and this one – with shaped lapels, worked just in dramatic black and gold. The third was worked in red sequins in imitation of red lacquer. This coat took 135 hours to make from the finest Hurel organza, with a further 800 hours for the Lesage embroidery. The coat has a transparent lining to reveal the perfectly executed and intricate embroidery on the reverse. Presented in the Ritz hotel (which Coco had made her home during WWII), the ‘Coromandels’ were presented on the runway with tight lycra catsuits which Lagerfeld described as ‘Body Beautifuls’. Worn with spiked high heels, the desired silhouette was long, lean and elegant. In an interview with Women's Wear Daily Lagerfeld described it as :

‘... all about the stiletto body... it makes a woman look endless, slim, slender, weightless, ageless - everything.'

This coat is the actual showpiece worn by Stella Tennant on the runway. Madame Ayoub was impatient to own it and did not want to wait for a new one to be made. As she was a model size it fitted her perfectly. Due to the cost and slow, labour-intensive work involved to produce them, very few were ever made.

The importance of this particular design is evidenced by the fact that identical examples have been exhibited in every major Chanel couture retrospective exhibition worldwide since 2005. It is one of the most exceptional, recognisable and beautiful Chanel creations ever made - where the genius of Lagerfeld joined forces with the talent and skills of Maison Lesage to produce a fashion masterpiece.

Publications:
-Paolo Roversi, photograph on Naomi Campbell, Vogue Italia, September 1996.
-Lydia Kamitsis, Lesage, Assouline, 2000, pp. 60-62 and detail on front cover.
-Chanel, exhibition catalogue Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Yale University Press, 5 May - 7 August 2005, pp. 132-133.
-China Through The Looking Glass, exhibition catalogue Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 7 May - 7 September 2015, pp. 208-210.
-Patrick Mauriès, Chanel: Les Campagnes Photographiques de Karl Lagerfeld, Éditions de la Martinière, Paris, 2018 p. 248.
-Alexander Fury, Chanel the Impossible Collection, Assouline, 2019, p. 81. Photograph of this coat from the Mouna Ayoub collection.
-Patrick Mauriès et Adelia Sabatini, Chanel Catwalk : The Complete Collections, Thames Hudson, Londres, 2020, p. 228.  

Exhibited
An identical coat was exhibited in :
-“Chanel“, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 5 May - 7 August 2005.
-“China through the looking glass“, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 7 May - 7 September 2015.
-“Karl Lagerfeld, A Line of Beauty“, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 5 May - 16 July 2023.

Consult the lot
Consult the auction