“The Chanel jacket is a man’s jacket which has become a typically feminine piece. It has crossed that boundary. I love that.”
When Karl Lagerfeld shows enthusiasm about something, you know that it’s going to be newsworthy. His love for the iconic Chanel jacket inspired the upcoming book, The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited, a project that has been over a year in the making in collaboration with Carine Roitfeld. The pair photographed over 100 celebrities and models – including Anna Wintour (recognizable from behind because of her famous bob), Sarah Jessica Parker, Georgia May Jagger and Kanye West – wearing the jacket self-styled to show how versatile it is. Each of the black-and-white portraits interprets the item differently; Milla Jovovich wears the jacket over a skeleton dress, while model Joan Smalls sports it with a turban, and Mr. West is pictured in a blazer and rosary.
In a behind-the-scenes video of one shoot, Roitfeld remarks:
“We made it short-sleeve, sleeveless, you can wear it inside out. It is an easy piece; you can do a lot with it. You can wear it with jeans, or an evening dress, you can see it on a ballet dancer, it suits everyone. It is an incredible piece. It is almost like a jean jacket, but very elegant.”
The public can view the the book before it becomes available at traveling exhibitions worldwide, but blink and you may miss your chance – the first exhibition premiered in Tokyo on March 24 and ran through April 15, and the second just passed here in New York City on June 15th. The next stop for The Little Black Jacket exhibition is Taipei (it will run through July 8,) and further locations have yet to be announced. Those that can’t afford a little black jacket of their own can buy the second best thing when the book goes on sale on August 15th.
