Salvador Dali

Workshop visit: At Chanel, it’s all wheat, no chaff



Chanel L'Epi brooch fine jewellery Les Bles de Chanel

When did wheat get such a bad rap? What was once revered for giving us our daily bread is now feared for making us fat, tired and irritable. Time for a rebranding campaign perhaps, but who would have expected the redeemer to be…Chanel?

In fact, the notion isn’t quite as eccentric as it seems if you know the history of Chanel. The young Gabrielle Chanel had humble beginnings, spending her childhood in the rural French region of Auvergne, known for its wheat fields. As a young woman she became friends with Salvador Dali, who once gifted her a painting of wheat, a gesture that symbolised success, growth and prosperity. From there on, wheat became one of the signature house codes, woven, embroidered and knitted into many a collection. Fast-forward to 2016 and the humble ear of wheat is the focus of some of the most extravagant Chanel pieces you can buy – from the ‘Les Blés de Chanel’ high jewellery collection. (more…)



Buy it now: Charlotte Olympia’s pre-fall 2015 artist tribute



Charlotte Olympia Untitled pre fall 2015

When Charlotte Olympia’s Charlotte Dellal picks a theme, she really loves to roll with it. And so for her pre-fall ‘Untitled’ collection, she’s gone all out for art references. Taking inspiration from the mid-20th-century greats, Dali, Cocteau and Kandinsky, her signature clutches turn into conversation pieces with their Dali lips and Kandinsky-esque abstract patterns. And of course, the famous Kitty flats are all present and correct with their own sprinkling of colourful Kandinsky magic. For me though, it’s all about the Jean Cocteau-inspired silhouette clutches, which look like something he himself might have created…

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Words: Navaz Batliwalla/Disneyrollergirl