Coco Chanel, Paris

  • Monument Historique France: Former apartment of Coco Chanel

  • Address: 31 Rue Cambon
  • Vicinity: N of Rue Saint-Honore
  • Arrondissement Municipal of 1st Rt, Louvre in Paris
  • Travel Genus: Sight
  • Sight Category: Building

Former apartment of Coco Chanel

Reached by a curved staircase carpeted in beige with white trim, Coco Chanel used her opulent apartment above her boutique to show new collections. During the show, she would sit on the fifth step down from her apartment, in front of a wall of mirrors. Looking down, she could see the models and the audience reaction to the clothes - without anyone seeing her. Today, the apartment is used for press interviews, fashion shoots and for haute couture clients.

Chanel disliked doors, and often placed burgundy-colored screens in entryways. The suite is filled with antique lacquered Chinese screens, crystal chandeliers, pairs of gilded Chinese horses, an ancient Russian icon from her friend Igor Stravinsky, a golden hand her friend Alberto Giacometti sculpted for her and a shaft of wheat painted by her friend Salvador Dali. Some of the Duke of Westminster's gifts, such as three cigarette boxes, sit on a table in. Mademoiselle Chanel never slept here. There is no bedroom.

The boutique occupied the ground floor, while the large reception room on the first floor was used to present her collections and hold fittings for Haute Couture dresses and suits. A stairway lined with mirrors led to her second-floor apartment, which was an intimately private realm filled with treasures. The third floor housed the studio, where Karl Lagerfeld works today, together with light-flooded workshops nestled below the rooftops. All of her activities, which included workshops for making jewelry, hats and sportswear, were united in this building, whose configuration has remained unchanged.


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Timeline

Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
Y/M/D Person Association Description Composition Food Event
1910/00/00 Coco Chanel Work In the heart of a very fashionable part of Paris, Gabrielle Chanel opens a hat shop, Chanel Modes, at No 21 rue Cambon not far from Place Vendome and Rue Faubourg Saint-Honore,
1918/00/00 Coco Chanel Work Gabrielle Chanel acquires the No 31 rue Cambon.
1921/05/05 Coco Chanel Innovator Giving Chanel No 5 to select clientele at Rue Cambon, Gabrielle Chanel invents the concept of the modern boutique by displaying fashion accessories and her first perfume to wear with her garments and hats. Later, she will add jewelry and beauty products.
1921/06/00 Coco Chanel hires Caricaturist George Goursat, also known as SEM, to create the first artistic rendering of her perfume.
1927/00/00 Coco Chanel Work By 1927, Chanel occupies five buildings on rue Cambon, No 23 to 31.

Data »

Particulars for Coco Chanel, Paris:
Area of Significance Architecture
Sight Category Building
Area of Design Decorative Arts
Occupation Fashion Design
Historic Use Multiple dwelling
Historic Use Retail shop




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