Justine Picardie

• 1. August 2012
  Par Justine Picardie
  dans COCO. (Dernière mise à jour : 14. September 2012)
  

  COCO AND MISIA
  BY JUSTINE PICARDIE

  Extract from ‘Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life’ (published by Harper Collins).

  “Misia – who was so famous at the time that she was known throughout Paris by her first name – met Chanel in 1917.
  This was an era when Misia was queen of the city, a muse who had reigned over artists since her youth, capricious and compelling, a law unto herself, with a court who paid heed to all her pronouncements. ‘What I admire in Misia is that joie de vivre always concealed behind a mask of ill-humour; that perfect poise, even in moments of despair,’ observed Paul Morand in his diary in April 1917. ‘And then Misia is Misia, someone with no equal and, as Proust says, a monument.’ As such, she had been painted by Renoir, Vuillard, Lautrec and Bonnard; inspired the poetry of Mallarmé, the prose of Proust, the music of Debussy and Ravel and the gossip of Cocteau and Picasso. A gifted pianist herself, Misia had sat on Liszt’s knee and performed Beethoven for him as a child. ‘Ah, if only I could play like that,’ he said, with his customary charm, and predicted a dazzling future for her; thereafter, Misia was taught the piano by Fauré, who regarded her as a prodigy. Her powerful position at the centre of the inner circle of Parisian art was consolidated by virtue of her close friendship with Serge Diaghilev, the director of the most sought-after ballet company in the world at that time, Ballets Russes. Chanel was 11 years younger, and not yet as socially pivotal in Parisian society, but Misia fell for her when they met at a dinner party at the home of Cécile Sorel, a glamorous French actress who was already a client at Rue Cambon.”

  Justine Picardie is the author of five books, including her critically acclaimed memoir, If The Spirit Moves You, and her most recent novel Daphne. The former features director of Vogue, and editor of Observer magazine, she currently writes for several other newspapers and magazines, including the Times, Sunday Telegraph and Harper’s Bazaar.

  Exhibition: Misia, reine de Paris. June 12th – September 9th at the musée d’Orsay, Paris.

  Anonymous, Misia Natanson in a black dress, 1896-1897
  Duplicate of a silver print photography
  Private collection
  © Vuillard Archives, Paris

• 8. Juni 2012
  Par Justine Picardie
  dans COCO. (Dernière mise à jour : 27. Juli 2012)
  

  BOY CAPEL
  BY JUSTINE PICARDIE

  Extract from ‘Coco Chanel: the Legend and the Life’ (published by Harper Collins).

  "His name was Arthur Capel, but his friends called him Boy, in an Edwardian era when English gentleman were still able to celebrate their continuing freedoms long after had turned from boys to men. Boy's origins were swathed in romance, and he came to Paris amidst murmured speculation that he was connected in some mysterious way to the British aristocracy.

  "In Pau I met an Englishman", Gabrielle Chanel said to Morand. "We made each other's acquaintance when we were out horse-trekking one day; we all lived on horseback." They drank wine together; it was young, intoxicating and quite unsual", and so was the Englishman. "The young man was handsome, very tanned and attractive. More than handsome, he was magnificent. I admired his nonchalance, and his green eyes. He rode bold and very powerful horses. I fell in love with him. I had never loved MB. "Yet at first, she and Capel did not speak. "Not a word was exchanged between this Englishman and me.

  One day I heard he was leaving Pau. "She asked him to tell her the time he was travelling to Paris; no other conversation was necessary. "The following day, I was at the station. I climbed onto the train.""

  Justine Picardie is the author of five books, including her critically acclaimed memoir, If The Spirit Moves You, and her most recent novel Daphne. The former features director of Vogue, and editor of Observer magazine, she currently writes for several other newspapers and magazines, including theTimes, Sunday Telegraph and Harper’s Bazaar.

• 23. März 2011
  Par Justine Picardie
  dans COCO. (Dernière mise à jour : 30. August 2012)
  

  CHANEL, HER LIFE
  BY JUSTINE PICARDIE

  Ich werde oft gefragt, wann ich damit begonnen habe, mein Buch über Chanel zu schreiben – und die wahre Antwort darauf lautet, bereits vor über einem Jahrzehnt, als ich Karl Lagerfeld zum ersten Mal traf. Ich habe ihn damals für eine Zeitschrift interviewt, letztendlich redeten wir aber über die Geister der Vergangenheit und die Mode der Zukunft; und eine der nicht fassbaren Präsenzen im Raum war Coco Chanel selbst. Ihr Bild hängt noch immer über Lagerfelds Schreibtisch in seinem Atelier, ihre Wohnung im zweiten Stock bleibt hinter den Spiegelwänden erhalten; und spät in der Nacht, wenn die Rue Cambon beinahe lautlos liegt, fühlst du, dass du einen Blick auf Mademoiselle Chanel selbst erhaschen kannst, drehst du dich nur schnell genug herum.

  Als ich durch diese Spiegelglastüren hindurch in diese außergewöhnliche Welt jenseits der Spiegel eingetreten war, wusste ich, dass ich mehr entdecken wollte. Lagerfeld bewies sich als weiser Führer in einem Labyrinth um die Legende von Coco Chanel, wie übrigens auch ihr enger Freund, Claude Delay, und ihre Großnichte, Gabrielle Labrunie. Darüber hinaus hatte ich das Glück, mehrere Privatarchive in England und Schottland in Augenschein zu nehmen, die zuvor unveröffentlichte Fotografien von Chanel, zahlreiche Briefe und Tagebücher enthielten, die erstaunliche neue Einblicke in ihr Leben eröffneten. Auf meiner Suche nach der Wahrheit über diese unglaubliche Frau reiste ich vom Kloster Aubazine, das mich in ihre Kindheit zurückführte, bis hin zum entfernten Schottischen Hochland, wo sie mit dem Herzog von Westminster und Winston Churchill zu fischen pflegte.

  Und immer dann, wenn ich mein Buch gerade beendet hatte – das bedeutet nicht, dass man mit Chanel jemals zu einem wirklich endgültigen Schluss kommen kann – tauchte von irgendwoher eine neue Überraschung auf. Monsieur Lagerfeld hat einen wahren Schatz zusammengestellt: eine Reihe wundervoller Illustrationen, die Licht in das Dunkel um Coco Chanel bringen, und so zum Ausgangspunkt für diese großartige neue Ausgabe des Buches wurden…

  Veröffentlichungstermine:
  Frankreich, 24. März 2011
  Deutschland, Ende April 2011
  UK und USA, September 2011