Gabrielle Chanel was a creature of contrasts: there was Mademoiselle Chanel of the sumptuous baroque, of rococo mirrors and dazzling jewelry, a playful, unrestrained Coco; but there was also Gabrielle Chanel of the little black dress, of the severe cut, of rigour in black and white.

Out of this dialogue between ostentation and austerity, the fine jewelry that she created all her life was unparalleled in its insistence on luxury and refinement, drawing inspiration from tradition without ever being the slave of everyday formulas or market values.

Based on archival research and interviews with Chanel’s colleagues and witnesses to her life and career, this book is the first to set in relief her passion for fabulous jewels, for exceptional stones, for improbable marvels, that should be considered ‘with innocence, with naivety, like enjoying an apple tree in blossom along the road as we speed by in a car’.

Jean-Paul Goude is one of the world’s most brilliant and unorthodox image-makers.

This book assembles a collection of advertising artwork he created over a ten-year period for Galeries Lafayette – Paris’s most celebrated department store.

Around 200 works, including over 100 working documents, are on show here: drawings, sketches and final images that sparkle with creative vigour. Selected and arranged by Goude himself, they present a gallery of artworks that have not only defined a brand, but have redefined advertising and brand photography as we 
know them.

Sexy, irreverent and often very funny, this book sizzles with Goude’s frequently risqué sense of humour. He is the enfant terrible behind some of the wittiest billboards in Paris, in perfect control of his medium and with an intuitive sense of chic. Goude has created a modern classic of commercial art. In an inspired moment, Galeries Lafayette gave Goude a rare degree of creative freedom, and Goude responded with some of the best work he has ever made.

Patrick Mauriès sets Goude’s work in context – alongside the great artists associated with advertising, fashion and publicity, such as René Gruau for Dior – and as a vital asset in the history of France’s greatest store.

This book is a celebration of Goude’s creative zest and perfectionism, and his unique affinity for making fresh and engaging commercial artworks. It will inform and instruct all those concerned about the art of image-making, whether design professionals or simply those prepared to be delighted and entertained by chic, witty images that work.

She was a creature of contrasts: there was the Chanel of rococo mirrors and playful jewellery; but also the Chanel of the tailored suit, of the utmost restraint; of classicism à la française.
The jewellery that Chanel created presents one of the least-known aspects of her work: in complement to her ‘costume jewellery’, she invented jewellery that was unparalleled in luxury and refinement and unfettered in its imagination.

Using illustrations and documents, many of them previously unpublished, and based on archival research and interviews with Chanel’s colleagues and other witnesses of her life and career, this book presents her passion for fabulous jewels and improbable marvels.

Lacroix is one of the most inventive and admired fashion designers in the world. He is also incredibly well-versed in fashion history, and he brings that expertise to bear in this delightful imaginary museum of historic and contemporary fashion.

‘I chose those that were most inspiring, those that best told the story of fashion that I would have wanted to tell if I were the museum curator that I intended to be when I was a student.’ – Christian Lacroix

Each featured piece – whether from costume collections of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs or the House of Lacroix – is distinguished by its cut, its detail, its colour and its texture,
and the pieces are juxtaposed and photographed in a way that emphasizes their relationships across the centuries.