CHANEL 1996 - 1997 Autumn Winter Catalogue photographed by Karl Lagerfeld
View Similar Items
CHANEL 1996 - 1997 Autumn Winter Catalogue photographed by Karl Lagerfeld
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 23.5 in (59.69 cm)Marked Size: 30 x 23.5 (EU)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Arnsberg, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2849216860662
Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel
More than a mere tastemaker, Karl Lagerfeld devoted himself to the continual pursuit of chic. “My life and my job,” the designer once said, “is to forget myself.” From his first collection at Chanel — after joining the brand in the early 1980s — he injected the venerable house with a frisson of modernity. Vintage Karl Lagerfeld designs for Chanel handbags, evening dresses, coats, jewelry and other clothing and accessories riffed on its iconography — tweed skirt suits, pearls, camellias — accenting a lexicon of Chanel-isms with tastes of the moment.
During his five-decade career as a designer for Chanel, Fendi, Chloé and many others, Lagerfeld was a quintessential chameleon, ever evolving to embody the times. An outsize, instantly recognizable personality — his ponytail powdered like an 18th-century viscount, his eyes perpetually shielded by dark glasses, wearing fistfuls of chunky silver jewels — Lagerfeld was, above all, an avatar of style.
Born in Hamburg (in 1933, ’35, or ’38 by varying accounts), Karl Lagerfeld packed his bags for Paris in 1954. His design for a coat won him the International Wool Secretariat and landed him a job with the celebrated couturier Pierre Balmain. He went on to become the designer of Jean Patou, eventually realizing that his seemingly endless ideas could fuel a career as a designer-for-hire. As such, Lagerfeld lent his vision to everyone from Loewe and Max Mara to Krizia and Charles Jourdan, nimbly moving among a diverse range of styles. It was an unprecedented way of working in the days when freelance was still a dirty word. During the late ’60s and ’70s, he refashioned Chloé to reflect the free spirit of the day and, beginning in 1965, joined forces with the Fendi family, taking it from sleepy furrier to fashion’s haute-est stratum.
Because of his track record for reviving and reimagining brands that had grown stagnant, in 1984 Lagerfeld was handed the reins at Chanel, which had been gathering dust since its founder’s heyday. Lagerfeld’s collections for the brand displayed his knack for synthesizing old and new, high and low. From Watteau (Spring/Summer 1985 couture) and Serge Roche (Spring/Summer 1990 ready-to-wear) to hip-hop fly girls (Fall/Winter 1991 ready-to-wear), surfers (Spring/Summer 2003 ready-to-wear) and ancient Egypt (Pre-Fall 2019), Lagerfeld used each season’s inspiration to conceive Chanel’s signatures anew. And despite producing eight collections a year for Chanel, as well as four to five for Fendi, Lagerfeld never faltered in proposing new ideas each time he put pencil to paper.
Find vintage Karl Lagerfeld Chanel day dresses, jackets, shoes and more on 1stDibs.
Chanel
In the years following the opening of her modest millinery shop, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel became a pivotal designer of both fashionable casual wear and Paris haute couture as well as an icon and arbiter of 20th-century style with her bob haircut and pearls. Today vintage Chanel handbags, jackets and evening dresses are among the most sought-after clothing and accessories for fashion lovers all over the world.
The first Chanel shop was established in 1910 in Paris on rue Cambon by the young milliner Gabrielle Chanel (1883–1971), who had picked up the nickname “Coco” while working as a club singer. The boutique drew the attention of the Parisian fashion elite who popularized her wide-brimmed Chanel Modes hats. Soon she added a sportswear store in the Normandy resort town of Deauville, where Coco set the tone for her defining sense of style — traditionally masculine garments reimagined for feminine shapes, made from simple jersey fabric.
Effortless and elegant, Chanel's designs promoted comfort and grace in women’s wear that had been dominated in the previous century by complicated layers of fabric and cumbersome corsets. She followed this success with a couture house, opened in 1915 in Biarritz.
But Chanel was not born into a life of glamour. Following the death of her mother, her father left her in an orphanage where she lived until the age of 18. It was there that she learned to sew as well as appreciate the classic pairing of black and white as worn by the nuns. In 1926, she introduced her first little black dress, reclaiming a color that had once been reserved for mourning and working-class women. That same decade, she debuted her perfume, Chanel No. 5, as well as the Chanel suit with a fitted skirt, inspired by the boxy lines of men’s clothing and employing a sporty tweed.
Chanel closed her fashion operations during World War II, then returned to the industry in 1954 to design for the functional needs of modern women. Structure and wearability endured in all of Chanel’s clothing and accessories, like the quilted leather 2.55 handbag introduced in 1955 with its gold-chain shoulder strap that freed up a woman’s hands. Chanel's collarless jacket reacted against the constricting styles of Christian Dior's New Look, replacing them with a design that was timeless, an instant classic. The 1957 two-tone slingback pumps had a practical heel height while offering a bold statement in the black tip of the shoes.
After Coco Chanel died in 1971, the brand underwent several changes in leadership, including fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, who took over as artistic director in 1983. Over the years, the company has continued to innovate, such as expanding into ready-to-wear fashion in 1978 and, in 2002, establishing a subsidiary company — Paraffection — dedicated to preserving the heritage skills of fashion artisan workshops. The House of Chanel still operates its flagship on rue Cambon in Paris, where it all began.
Browse vintage Chanel bags, evening dresses, shoes, jewelry and other clothing and accessories on 1stDibs.
- Set of Two Bulgari Brand Book Catalogue Jewelry and Watches 2013By BvlgariLocated in North Hollywood, CASet of two Bulgari catalogues, jewelry and watches. Collection of 2013. Hardcover black cloth catalogues of one of the most famous Luxury Jewellery maker in the world. Sotirio Bulgar...Category
2010s Italian Fashion
$104 Sale Price20% Off - Bulgari Catalog, Jewelry and Watches Collection 2011Located in North Hollywood, CABvlgari catalog, jewelry and watches. Bulgari "Serpenti" Collection of 2011. Hardcover catalog of one of the most famous Luxury Jewellery maker in the ...Category
2010s Italian Fashion
$76 Sale Price20% Off - Chanel: The Couturiere at Work Book 1996 1st US Ed. by Amy De la HayeBy ChanelLocated in North Hollywood, CAChanel: The Couturiere at Work by Amy De la Haye, Shelley Tobin. Published by Woodstock, N. Y. The Overlook Press, 1994 Victoria & Albert Museum, 1996 - Costume design - 136 pages. '...Category
20th Century French Fashion Books
$100 Sale Price20% Off - Couture The Great Designers Book by Caroline Rennolds Millbank c 1985Located in University City, MOCouture The great designers hardcover book by Caoline Rennolds Millbank c 1985 The 415 page hardcover begins in the 1840s with Charles Frederick Worth...Category
1980s American Couture
- David Webb The Quintessential American Jeweler Hard Cover Book by Ruth PeltasonBy David WebbLocated in University City, MODavid Webb The Quintessential American Jeweler hard cover book by Ruth Peltrason c 2013 The book is an amazing archive of Webb's extraordinary 20th century jewelry designs Webb is be...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Fashion Books
$595 Sale Price23% Off - Vera Wang On Weddings by Vera Wang Large Hardcover BookBy Vera WangLocated in North Hollywood, CAVera Wang On Weddings by Vera Wang Large Hardcover Book. In this superbly produced volume by Callaway Editions, Ltd.; the world′s most successful bridal gown designer shares her thoughts and vision on weddings. Culled from years of experience in the wedding business, Vera Wang offers ideas on every aspect of the wedding day from invitations to flowers, from cakes to attendants. Of course, a wedding book by Vera Wang wouldn′t be complete without detail on the bride′s gown...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Fashion Books
$132 Sale Price20% Off
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
How the Chanel Jacket Forever Changed What Women Wear
The classic tweed garment has been a wardrobe staple of chic women around the world since the 1950s.
Remembering Fashion Designer, Collector and Supreme Tastemaker Karl Lagerfeld
The creative force behind brands like Chanel, Fendi and Chloé was as exacting in his interiors as he was in his clothing designs.