UK/FILE: Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's creative director, visits London to launch an exhibition of photographs of celebrity friends wearing the luxury brand's most iconic piece - the little black jacket

Record ID: 858122

  • Title: UK/FILE: Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's creative director, visits London to launch an exhibition of photographs of celebrity friends wearing the luxury brand's most iconic piece - the little black jacket
  • Date: 14th October 2012
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE - SEPTEMBER 6, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BRAD PITT AT PREMIERE
  • Embargoed: 29th October 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, United Kingdom
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom France
  • Topics: Business,Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAC0NNK7RDA08N9DDCI0XVSMG9N
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  • Story Text: Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld visited London on Thursday (October 11) for the opening of Channel's Little Black Jacket photography exhibition at the Saatchi gallery.
    Dressed in his trademark dark shades and gloves, fashion's most recognisable designer and the man who has steered Chanel for the past three decades was in London for the first time in five years on Chanel business.
    The exhibition shows photographs of Lagerfeld's celebrity friends wearing Chanel's most iconic piece - the little black jacket as designed by Coco Chanel in the early part of the last century and still going strong.
    "For me, it's the same category as jeans, t-shirts, two-button jackets for men and it's a basic thing of the wardrobe of women today. The most basic jacket you can have is the little black jacket. That's why it was fun to play with something very basic and to make something with fantasy or to let it depend on the personality of the person on the photo. But it was great to play with Karin and the people who were ready to play with this item and to make out of the classic item a fantasy item," Lagerfeld said.
    Despite the economic crises, with a growing number of multimillionaires in the world, Lagerfeld said it was a boom time for luxury brands such as Chanel.
    "Every luxury good is done by people who spend a lot of time doing it and the number of jobs provided by that is really unbelievable. So if you're a fan of unemployment, then this perfect thing luxury is good. But luxury is just another product, just a little better quality and a little more expensive because it takes more time to make it. I think thank God there's luxury because there are thousands and thousands of people who live from the work and the craftsmanship of luxury," he said.
    On Monday (September 15) Chanel will unveil the advert for its next Chanel Number 5 girl - and it's a boy -- actor Brad Pitt to be precise.
    Although Lagerfeld does not control the perfume side of the Chanel business, he applauded the move.
    "Yes why not, men have to smell the perfume so I think it's the perfect idea. It was never done, normally it's always girls and stars and things like this. I think it's the newest idea in the perfume industry and everybody uses Marilyn Monroe and all the stars that we've done and all that, so I think the newest idea Chanel could have was to take a man but for that you have to take the most famous and the most sexiest man in the world and that's Brad Pitt," he said.
    For the first time a man will be used to sell the world's most iconic women's fragrance. Where once Nicole Kidman and Keira Knightley did the honours Pitt has been chosen - at a rumoured fee of around 4 million GBP- to be the face of the fragrance.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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