Chanel: My house is a Leo

A house is the sum of all lifestyles. Fashion designers are not just designing fashion, they are designing a whole lifestyle: which restaurants to go to, where to go on vacation, who designs the lamps and sofas, which coffee beans and tea leaves to use, the soap box and candlestick arrangements, and everything to the nth degree.

Based on this alone, we have to mention Gabrielle Chanel. 31 rue Cambon is the headquarters where Ms. Chanel worked, rested and entertained guests during her lifetime. But she didn't live here; at night, she returned to her suite at the Ritz Hotel in Paris.Ms. Chanel's former home on rue Cambon is filled with artful furnishings, each of which is imbued with her design philosophy. A large rotating staircase connects the floors, a spiral staircase that was featured in the movie Chanel at the Vanguard, in which models wearing Chanel's clothes slowly descend the staircase, which was the original stage for the presentation of Chanel's work, and which carries the occurrence and flow of the classics.

Accompanying the spiral staircase is a full-face mirror, where she already opened a store in 1913, and may have sat here worrying and pondering. Born on August 19, 1883, Chanel was a Leo by nature, so you can find lion sculptures of all sorts in this residence, in different materials, from wood, silver, bronze to marble. "August 19th is my birthday, so I was born a Leo, and like a lion, I will use my claws to prevent others from hurting me. Believe me, the pain of having to dance my claws to catch someone is never less than being caught,"

Ms. Chanel said. Having never stepped into a marriage in her life, she has always been an insecure woman. With the sudden death of her lover Boy Capel, Chanel made her first visit to Venice in 1919, where the lion sculpture in St. Mark's Square fascinated her. In addition to the lions, she also loved the ears of wheat, which appeared repeatedly throughout her apartment as a lucky charm or talisman that always accompanied her. In the different rooms of the apartment, we can find ears of wheat: sometimes it is a bouquet made of brass, sometimes it is a gilded wooden sculpture next to the fireplace in the living room, or perhaps it is a gilded table leg decoration, or even a single ear of wheat painted for her by the artist Dali.

For his Spring/Summer 2010 collection, Karl Lagerfeld transformed these dazzling ears of wheat into a collection of inspirations: the golden ears appeared in various forms, including embroidery, on belts, bracelets, headbands, necklaces, and even shirts. The two giant screens in the dining room are impressive, Chanel's love of Chinese style started with an accidental discovery of a Chinese screen called "Lost Happiness" in an antique store, and she ended up with a collection of 32 of them. Today, Chanel's apartment is still intact. The lady of the house seems to have only just left, her glasses next to a book spread out on the table, and will probably return soon to recline on the long sofa with a cigarette and a cup of tea - the gilded tea service sits on a low table next to her.

This is an excerpt from the March 1, 2017 issue of INTO LIKE (Issue 2), and for more, please visit INTO LIKE's partner merchants for free pickup. Click here to view the INTO Likes pickup directory

In fact, INTO Likes has always been by your side.

In fact, INTO LIKE has always been around you.