If MI5 is looking for new recruits, they might want to start
sniffing around the Chanel Press Office. Yesterday's ssssh-don't-tell-a-soul instruction to Beauty Bible: be at Harrods Door
9 at 10 a.m. sharp.
Naturally, we accepted this Above Top Secret
assignment.
And what did we find...? Well, we were
actually the very first to discover the pop-ups to end all pop-ups, which
opened yesterday - not a word of which had leaked beforehand. A fashion
boutique, tucked behind the windows on Knightsbridge (which are all devoted to
Chanel, right now).
A jewel of a 'beautique', where yesterday ubermanicurist Sophy Robson and make-up goddess Mary Greenwell were making over real women using products from an exclusive Chanel 'Knightsbridge Collection', created by Peter Phillips. (We hear Marian Newman's pitching up, at some point.)
A jewel of a 'beautique', where yesterday ubermanicurist Sophy Robson and make-up goddess Mary Greenwell were making over real women using products from an exclusive Chanel 'Knightsbridge Collection', created by Peter Phillips. (We hear Marian Newman's pitching up, at some point.)
And upstairs on the Third Floor, the pièce de
résistance:
a 350 square metre exhibition - think of it as 'Coco in Wonderland' -
which quite took our breath away, from the moment we stepped through (what
else?) a floor-to-ceiling pearl curtain, into Chanelworld. (Where
nothing, interestingly, is even for sale. Which is a shame because we seriously
covet a CC-monogrammed watering can and trowel combo.)
Actually, words don't
really do it justice. So Jo took lots of snaps, to lead you by the hand
through the show... (Sorry about any gaps in this layout. Today we officially hate Blogger.com)
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| You're invited to step inside a Chanel 2.25 handbag... |
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| To watch a fascinating film of the making of one of these classic bags... |
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| Then visit Coco's 'playroom', which even has a Rue Cambon 'dollshouse' (below) |
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| The 'haute couture' salon, with the special boxes only clients normally see... |
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| The tactile, textured 'Tweed Room' |
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| Meet cut-out Karl in his 10-metre faithfully recreated library |
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| A handbag as big as a room! |
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| Inside a Tuileries-style garden, gravel, topiary, benches - and this gardening set... |
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But our favourite of all: vintage ads projected in a No. 5 bottle...
The whole thing is a total swoon. So: wherever you are, we suggest you buy yourself an Awayday to Harrods sometime soon. Or you'll never be able to karaoke 'je ne regrette rien', in future.
There. The secret's out. But oh, what a secret...
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