There was a unique exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery. It’s over, but there’s a unique book left. Visit Coco Chanel’s apartment at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris presented by photographer, filmmaker and artist Sam Taylor-Johnson.
34 amazing photographs. Place where Mademoiselle Chanel worked and entertained guests like Salvador Dali, Winston Churchill and Igor Stravinsky is captured exactly as she had left it at her death in 1971. The gilt Venetian mirrors, a bejewelled birdcage, leather-bound editions of Voltaire, Shakespeare, Bryon and Bronte, Chinese lacquer screens, iconic motifs of camellias and lions, No. 5 perfume – everything that was treasured by Mademoiselle Chanel.
In the pictures: mirrored staircase leading up to second floor Chanel’s apartment. “The essence of Chanel is firmly rooted there in all of her possessions and I truly believe that her spirit and soul still inhabits the second floor”, says Taylor-Johnson. “Shooting at Coco Chanel’s apartment was an unexpectedly absorbing experience”. If you have a chance to see the book, you’ll understand what Taylor-Johnson meant. It’s really worth it.
Photos Susanna Strömquist, www.susanna.elle.se