Keira Knightley for Chanel

Keira Knightley will reunite with her Pride + Prejudice director Joe Wright to shoot the advertisement for her new Chanel contract. Knightley takes over from Kate Moss as the face of Coco Mademoiselle perfume this year.

Wright will direct the television ad this month. When the Chanel contract was first announced last year, Knightley said, "I am really proud to have been asked to work with such an iconic house as Chanel, and thrilled to follow the extraordinary women who have been associated with it before."

www.chanel.com
17 April 2007

Keira Knightly faces off for Chanel

Brit stunner Keira Knightly has been offered a spot as the face of Coco Mademoiselle perfume, replacing Kate “China White” Moss. The actress has signed a deal with Chanel of which the details are not clear. She is believed to be earning at least $1 million for at least one year's work.

“Keira is very modern and has an incredible beauty and freshness, yet she has a certain edginess to her,” head of Chanel's US business, Maureen Chiquet, told WWD. “Coco Mademoiselle is a very current and modern brand with an independent spirit. By partnering with Keira, we continue to reinforce the brand's personality and remind everyone that Chanel is and always has been forward-thinking.”

The Coco Mademoiselle fragrance was founded in 2001 and from the very beginning Kate Moss was its face. “Kate Moss has embodied Coco Mademoiselle's character since the fragrance launched in 2001,” Christine Dagousset, executive vice president of fragrance and beauty told WWD, while declining to discuss the cocaine scandal clinging to the supermodel. “Chanel has enjoyed its collaboration with Kate for the last six year, which continues until the end of 2006, and Chanel maintains a close relationship with Kate Moss. Keira Knightly becomes the new face of Coco Mademoiselle in 2007.”

Knightly already has experience as the face of a brand, with her role as the face of British luxury good and jewellery retailer Asprey. She won the contract in July 2003 and continues to work for the brand.

With estimated global revenues in excess of $2 billion a year, Chanel has been known to use celebrities to sell its products and leading filmmakers to shoot its commercials. It spent an estimated $8 million on its 2004 ad campaign for its Chanel No.5 fragrance, featuring Nicole Kidman and directed by Baz Luhrmann.

Coco Mademoiselle, which was launched in 2001 as a sort of little sister to the classic fragrance Coco, has come into its own since its inception. In its first year of sales it achieved $21 million in retail sales in the US. It was created by Chanel's in-house ‘nose' Jacques Polge, and features bergamot, orange, heart of jasmine, rose, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla and white musk.

www.chanel.com
26 April 2006

Chanel opens first Moscow store

Luxury fashion house Chanel is opening its first freestanding store in Moscow this summer. The new boutique will be located at 14 Stolechnikov Pereoulok. The date of opening has not yet been established, but a spokeswoman told WWD that Chanel is planning an important event this fall. Currently the house's Russian sales are almost exclusively limited to cosmetics and fragrances, which are sold at 250 locations in 52 Russian cities.

The new store was designed by architect Peter Marino. It will also sell the house's collection of fine jewellery, which is new to the Russian market. Chanel watches are already sold at a select number of Russian stores. According to the house, the focus in the store will be on both ready-to-wear and accessories.

www.chanel.com
11 april 2006

Not so vintage Chanel

Actress Reese Witherspoon may not have been the only victim of Chanel dress deja vu at the Gold Globe Awards last week. The Los Angeles Times Friday quoted "unconfirmed reports" that Natalie Portman's "vintage" black lace Chanel dress may have been worn by Debra Messing at the 12th Annual Glamour Magazine Women of the Year Awards in 2001.

A couture scandal erupted Monday night when the fashion police recognized Witherspoon's "vintage" Chanel dress as the same one worn by Kirsten Dunst to Globe parties in 2003. If it is determined the same fashion faux pas was committed twice Monday, the Times predicts "heads will roll soon at Chanel's corporate headquarters."

Chanel accused of counterfeiting

French luxury fashion house Chanel has been accused of counterfeiting and “abusive termination of (ongoing) contractual relations” by one of its suppliers. World Tricot seeks £1.3 million in damages for breach of contract and £2.3 million for counterfeiting.

The supplier, which also supplies knitwear to Dior, Christian Lacroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, Givenchy and Kenzo, alleges that Chanel produced a tricot vest that World Tricot had proposed to the fashion house and which it had subsequently rejected. Chanel has denied the allegation and has turned around and sued World Tricot for £340,000 for moral prejudice and tarnishing its image.

The French judge, unable to resolve the complex case, has proposed that the parties resolve their differences with the help of a mediator. The companies have until 20 January to agree to the proposition, or the case will not be tried again. “We are happy with the proposition, but it must happen very fast or else World Tricot will not survive,” said Solange Doumic, attorney for World Tricot.

12 January 2006

Selma Blair new face of Chanel

Whether you find her pretty, interesting or absolutely none of the above, it cannot be refuted that skinny actress Selma Blair wears her Chanel well. Karl Lagerfeld, who has dressed her repeatedly, including for her wedding, has now photographed her for the new Chanel Vision ads.

“I have a lovely relationship with Karl,” Blair told WWD. “It's different to be shot by him. I'm so comfortable in front of him. Sometimes when I work with other photographers they say, ‘Give me more Selma, more, more.' But they don't really know who I am. With Karl, he's capturing something that's more – my personal flaws, the way I am as a girl, not a model.” Leave it to Karl to excel once again.

Chanel jewellery exhibition in NYC

If you are by any small chance in New York between 26 October and 5 November, make sure to visit the public exhibition of Chanel's new collection of fine jewellery. The collection, entitled “Elements Celestes” includes pieces designed by the creative in Paris, made up of 15,400 precious stones, including diamonds, sapphires and pearls. The total collection weighs 330 carats!

Contemporary artist Xavier Veilhan was invited by Chanel to create a series of artworks inspired by the collection, providing a stellar backdrop to this glittering exhibition. With this exhibition Chanel hopes to consolidate its reputation as a fine jeweller, in the spirit of Coco Chanel herself, who created Bijoux de Diamonds in 1932. The exhibition will take place at 9 West 57 th Street following a private launch party on the 24 th .

www.chanel.com
29 September 2005

Chanel opens in Selfridges

The world's most glamorous womenswear label will be available in Selfridges London from this week. Chanel, which currently has boutiques on Bond Street and Heathrow, will showcase its beautiful bags, ready-to-wear and other delectables from the House's master mind and just-as-famous designer, Karl Lagerfeld.

4 September 2005

Timeless Coco Chanel

Anyone who has ever read Coco Chanel's biography will agree she was a most remarkable woman of her times. The now infamous designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel is heralded to have freed women's clothing from its old constraints... "the first [designer] to understand how a modern woman lived," as one fashion editor says.

The Chanel legacy -- capsulized in the little black dress -- has been carried on by designer Karl Lagerfeld, who took over the House of Chanel in 1983. An exhibition opening this week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York demonstrates how Lagerfeld salutes and extends Chanel's vision. During a preview of the show, it was noted how well Lagerfeld has built on a fashion vocabulary that remained consistent throughout Chanel's long career. She used soft tweeds, sewed braid along the edge of jackets, put white fabric camillias on lapels, made purses of quilted leather and blackened the toes of her beige sling-back shoes. All her designs were created on living models, not sketch pads... and all were done n a mist of Chanel No. 5, still the world's top-selling perfume."

Lagerfeld has continued Chanel's famous wearability while updating some of her ideas. For instance, a daysuit created two years ago with a typical Chanel cardigan jacket, outlined at the neck and waistline, of wool boucle in ivory and beige, with shots of coral. The lining is silk. The real Lagerfeld part: the illusion of unraveling wool, laced with colour, at the skirt and cuffs. The Chanel exhibit continues at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through August.

www.chanel.com
6 May 2005

Chanel threatens to sue

French fashion house Chanel has threatened to sue a British student designer for featuring the famous Chanel double-C logo.

Sophia Amanzi-George, a student designer at Central Saint Martins in London, had incorporated the logo in designs inspired by modern African and black culture. The Afro-German designer claims she never intended to copy anyone. "I bought the prints at Brixton Market, so I luckily can't get into trouble for actually creating it myself. I wanted to approach African culture in a different way - rather than the traditional leather fringe-and-tribal prints look, I wanted a more modern interpretation. The C logo was an attempt to be humorous about the use of fake labels in the 'bling' culture," she explained.

Chanel is, however, not amused and is demanding that Amanzi-George must hand in her design, her sketches and any rights to the image featuring it. Not that this will be detrimental to her career. After a succesful six-months work experience at Alexander McQueen, she is hopeful of finding a job with a major fashion house when she leaves Saint Martins later in the year.

www.chanel.com
14 March 2005

Lagerfeld a hit in Japan

Designer Karl Lagerfeld's appearance in Ginza for the opening to the new Chanel flagship (now the largest Chanel shop in the world) was met by hysterical fans. As Lagerfeld himself observed, you no longer have to be a rock star to attract too much attention and receive such blatant adoration.

Hundreds of fans queued up outside the shop all night, desperate to get their hands on the pearl-strewn white bags and jackets, which are exclusive to the store. Lagerfeld himself signed the certificates accompanying the items as proof of their originality.

www.chanel.com
>> more Lagerfeld in the FashionUnited Archive
8 December 2004

Bigger Is Better At Chanel

Chanel is launching its biggest boutique in the world in Tokyo, with a 10-floor high-rise building made of glass, banking that Japan's famous appetite for luxury is as hungry as ever.

The store opening last weekend in the Ginza district is much more than your average boutique, even by opulent standards. It features a concert hall, a restaurant by celebrated French chef Alain Ducasse and 1,300 square metres of shopping space with designer items sold nowhere else in the world.

Designed by American architect Peter Marino, the 56-metre high building has a massive curtain wall of glass that encapsulates a nest-shaped block of aluminium in Chanel handbags' signature tweed pattern. The glass facade will light up Ginza each dusk to dawn with 700,000 embedded light-emitting diodes. In what is billed as a world first, the facade itself doubles as a television screen to broadcast to passers-by.

The boutique comes at a total investment of USD 240 million (EUR 180.4 million), a level of opulence believed is worth it to build what he hoped to be "the heart of luxury in Asia." Chanel generates as much revenue in Japan as in the entire European market. It is joining the ranks of Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Dior in buying a major chunk of real estate in Ginza for Japanese consumers.

1 December 2004

A Few Scents For Kidman

Nicole Kidman was paid $5 million for the Chanel ad which debuts in cinemas later this month. The advert, which took four days to shoot, is based on her performance in Baz Luhrmann's film Moulin Rouge. And with a budget of $60 million, it cost more than many Hollywood movies to make.

2 November 2004

Kidman Causes Stir At Chanel

Chaos erupted on the Paris catwalk on Friday as Hollywood star Nicole Kidman arrived to launch her promotional campaign for Chanel's legendary No 5 perfume, setting off a paparazzi stampede. Kidman has reunited with "Moulin Rouge" director Baz Luhrmann to shoot a two-minute film in which she plays an actress who flees photographers at a movie premiere and ends up romancing a handsome stranger, played by Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro.

Kidman's appearance was the highlight of a week short on front-row stars, and it took 20 security guards to get the snappers to disperse. The celebrity worship continued on the runway, where models preened like film stars in the glare of the flashbulbs.

Opening the show were the women who originally coined the term "supermodel" in the 1990s - Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Nadja Auermann and Kristen McMenamy, wearing glamorous gowns that were perfect for the Oscars. A black velvet dress featured a plunging back set off with a diamond pendant spelling out the number five. The perfume, with its distinctive square bottle and stopper, reached mythical status when Marilyn Monroe announced it was all she wore in bed.

www.chanel.com
11 October 2004

Chanel new No.5 campaign

The French fashion and cosmetics company is launching a new campaign for its classic scent, Chanel No.5, this November. The long-awaited campaign will feature Nicole Kidman in an advertisement shot by Australian director Baz Luhrmann. According to Jacques Helleu, Chanel's artistic director, the product is more a short film than an advertisement.

Kidman previously worked with Luhrmann, making the film "Moulin Rouge". She now plays an actress who escapes the maddened crowds to fall into the arms of a bohemian young writer. He is played by the impossibly handsome Brazilian actor, Rodrigo Santoro, of "Love Actually". After a brief affair she returns to her previous existence and the writer is left only with the memory of her beauty and, of course, of her scent. The campaign will also include billboards and press ads.

www.chanel.com
4 October 2004

Kate Moss Stays With Chanel

Kate Moss has signed a new deal with Chanel to continue as the face of its Coco Mademoiselle perfume. The French fashion house was reported to have dumped the supermodel amid fears her party-loving lifestyle was bad for its image..

Chanel defied the rumours, however, and announced the 30-year-old beauty will be the star of a new ad campaign next year. Moss, whose deal is said to be worth GBP 1 million, has been the face of Coco Mademoiselle for the past three years. Last month it was reported that Chanel had tired of her and were chasing 19-year-old actress Scarlett Johansson as a replacement.

www.chanel.com
29 July 2004

It's Black And White At Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld stayed true to Coco Chanel's roots this season, making the French fashion house's iconic black-and-white packaging the foundation for his beautifully chic autumn-winter haute couture collection. Fashion editors who braved pouring rain to attend the display in a hangar on the edge of Paris stepped onto a blinding white set made up of giant cubes emblazoned with the word Chanel and the house's interlocking Cs.

As women in tweed suits picked their way across the pristine floor, assistants on all fours scrubbed away footmarks. Guests including British actress Elizabeth Hurley, wearing an off-the-shoulder ruffled white blouse and blue jeans, watched models emerge from a side door in monochrome suits and delicate dresses worn together for a multilayered effect. A slimline black tweed skirt suit peeled away to reveal a sleeveless white satin dress with an oversized turtleneck. A pleated satin dress was, meanwhile, worn over a tweed pencil skirt and topped with a matching tweed jacket.

Models with racoon eyes circled with white eyeshadow and thick black lashes wore floppy caps for a 1960s look. They shed layers to reveal a see-through sequined cocktail dress beneath a prim knee-length tweed coat, or a camisole top under a blazer. "This kind of thing is nice because it's easy to match everything, to have things going together," Lagerfeld said after the show. His "duo" concept carried through to evening wear, as layers of soft chiffon softened the line of body-hugging lace sheaths.

Flame-haired British model Lily Cole, who is being hailed as the new Kate Moss, stepped out in a bell-shaped floor-length evening gown with a sweeping black embroidered lace overlay. In a witty finale to the show, two cubes slid open to release sliding platforms bearing a four-piece orchestra and a buffet of white food, including champagne served in white ceramic goblets.

www.chanel.com
9 July 2004

Kate Moss No Longer Chanel Mademoiselle

Chanel will not be renewing its contract with supermodel Kate Moss as the face of its perfume Coco Mademoiselle. Speculation has it that at age 30 she is too old for the brand's young image, and her partying style clashes with the moderate values of the renowned French fashion house.

It has been suggested that Chanel was chasing Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson, currently exclusively signed to represent Calvin Klein, who is 11 years younger than Moss.

www.chanel.com
28 June 2004

Chanel Wins Court Battle Over Logo

French fashion house Chanel has won a court battle against an upmarket London sex shop over the house's famous COCO trademark. The Paris-based company objected to sex shop Coco de Mer, owned by Samantha Roddick, 33 - the daughter of Body Shop founder Anita - registering the brand name COCO DE MER. Mr Justice Patten said: "Coco de mer is the name of species of palm tree which grows only on one or two of the islands in the Seychelles. The fruit of the tree is a large nut with two lobes, which is said to resemble a female bottom and genitalia."

He added: "Ms Roddick says that she recognised the spiritual and sexual significance of the coco de mer nut, which is seen as a potent and particularly feminine symbol of fertility.Ms Roddick, 33, set up Coco de Mer in London's Monmouth Street. She told Justice Patten that her shop sold a wide range of erotica and her aim is to "sell items of high quality in an attractive environment that is not smutty or alienating"

Miss Roddick claimed there was no risk of association between the brands, because the branding and marketing of Coco de Mer used the full name and was based on the name of the fruit. However, Chanel argued that only a tiny number of people who had spent holidays in the Seychelles would know that it was a native palm tree and even fewer would know of its erotic significance.

www.chanel.com
11 May 2004

This Spring It's Chanel

Lacy ra-ra skirts, boucle jackets, elegant dresses and bouncy fun depicted the Chanel haute couture show in Paris yesterday. Ruffled blouses and chiffon neckerchiefs highlighted the slenderness of the neck, a look adopted by Nicole Kidman for the London premier of Cold Mountain recently. Karl Lagerfeld, who turns 70 this year, still has some creative work to do if he is to follow in Coco Chanel's shoes. She worked until the ripe old age of 86.

www.chanel.com
21 January 2004

Kidman Stars In Chanel Ad

Nicole Kidman pocketed USD2 million for starring in an advertising spot for Chanel No. 5. The Australian actress portrays Marilyn Monroe followed by paparazzi in New York. Four minutes of footage were produced for this spot. This makes the ex wife of Tom Cruise the highest paid celebrity of the world at USD500,000 per minute.

The spot took four days to produce and was directed by Baz Luhrmann, who was responsible for the award-winning Moulin Rouge. The spot is destined to create some controversy since some are saying that Kidman was made to resemble Princess Diana rather than Marilyn Monroe.

8 January 2004
www.chanel.com

Kidman New Face Of Chanel

What do you get when you pair one of the world's most famous actresses with the world's most coveted perfume? A Hollywood blockbuster advertising deal, to say the least. After months of speculation that Nicole Kidman was to be involved with the legendary French Fashion House, Kidman is to be the new face of Chanel No 5. The campaign, to start early next year, will be created by Baz Luhrman, better known to some as the director of Moulin rouge and Romeo and Juliet.

The contract is definitely a major coup for Chanel. Kidman, who is fiercely protective of her privacy, has traditionally shunned advertising deals, so much so that she even went so far as to sue the luxury goods giant LVMH for using her image in an advertising campaign without her permission.

Chanel did not give details of the deal, although reports earlier this year suggested she was negotiating a £5m with the fashion giant.

As one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses, who regularly appears in the editorial pages of the glossy magazines and was described as a "style icon" in this month's American Vogue, Kidman is almost certain to have negotiated a record-breaking deal. Chanel said it had chosen Kidman "because she represents a unique standard of elegance and embodies the spirit and modernity of Chanel".

28 October 2003
www.chanel.com

Chanel Had Scottish Connections

Coco Chanel and her aristocratic lover used to holiday at a Scottish retreat called Rosehall House, 10 miles east of Lairg in the 1920s. The property, which has been empty for 40 years, may fall beyond repair unless a new owner is found.

True to her taste, expect to find deep beige wallpaper, unusual shades of green and crimson colours. Even the servant quarters boast Chanel's touch. Neutral beiges are set against simple wooden fireplaces and decorative and ornate antiques. If are looking for a property out-of-the-way adorned with the influence of one's of fashion greatest creators, this may well be the place for you.

30 September 2003
www.chanel.com

Chanel Unveils Private Jewellery Collection

Chanel's new Private Collection, one-of-a-kind pieces of exquisite jewellery is currently undergoing a world tour, and is in London in early fall. The 150-piece collection can be seen at Chanel's fine jewellery stores and plays on the company's rich inheritance, incorporating signature touches, like camellias and quilting.

Should you miss sightings of these rare treasures, the collection will be in New York from 1-20 November.

5 September 2003
www.chanel.com

Nicole Kidman new face Chanel?

Following his couture presentation for Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld refused to confirm reports that Oscar-winning Australian actress Nicole Kidman will be the next face of the renowned French fashion house.

"It's not a done deal, so I can't tell you anything," the German designer told reporters, although he admitted that he would love to have Kidman by his side, noting: "She's the best of the best." Lagerfeld also would not comment on reports that Kidman's contract with Chanel could total a minimum of 7 million euros, a record sum. "I'm not responsible for Chanel's accounting," he was quick to add.

10 July 2003
www.chanel.com

Chanel hits Switzerland with jewellery

For the first time since the launch of its Fine jewellery and watch division in 1987, Chanel shall attend the prestigious Watch and Jewellery show in Basel, Switzerland, in April 2003. The Basel show is the world's leading luxury trade event of this category and Chanel shall mark a new era by participating in this exclusive forum. Located on the prestigious first floor, the Chanel space will occupy 250m on three levels.

Designed by they internationally acclaimed architect Peter Marino, the space will showcase Chanel's collection of watches and jewellery. Peter Marino's previous projects for Chanel include Chanel boutiques all over the globe, including the most recent projects in Milan and on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.

www.chanel.com
February 19 2003