Chanel | 31 Rue Cambon Magazine

Though the creation of this magazine was announced last November, the physical object is new to me, sent by an associate at Chanel's Los Angeles boutique. As a lover of print media and physical artifact, and an admirer of the House of Chanel, holding the heavy cardstock magazine with mixtures of mattes and glossy paper and embossed lettering was a treat. The magazine highlights the Fall/Winter 2010 collection, with a tribute to the history of Chanel as well as the couture process.

Here, you can see the embossing on the cover.

The above, from their embroidery couturier, is my favorite photo throughout the magazine. I absolutely love the attention to detail that goes into haute design; the precision, the time, the knowledge that an embroidery expert goes hand to needle with each garment.

The sketches, of course, are also brilliant. Seeing fashion from idea through its process and through manifestation is so exciting to me. It makes the process more real, less manufactured.

The high buns and hairstyling from the fall/winter couture show was one of the highlights of the entire collection for me. It makes me wish I had long locks!

Promotional materials usually end up going straight to my recycling bin, but this was so beautifully done. It's going to be saved along with my Miu Miu lookbooks.
File this one in my "please don't let print media die" folder.