Paris has always been regarded as the fashion capital of the world. From the luxury jewellers in Place Vendome to the chic designer boutiques and haute couture ateliers that line the streets of Avenue Montaigne and Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, no other city has such a strong affinity to fashion. Of course, no other address is more synonymous with the trade than 31 Rue de Cambon, a quiet street a few steps from Place Vendome. Here stands a white four-storey, 18th-century building that is home to the house of Chanel, one of the world's most coveted luxury labels.
Today the building's exterior looks almost the same as it did when it was bought by one of fashion's most influential designers, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel in 1921. On the first floor is the retail boutique, shaded by chic black and white awnings, and which, for most of the day, is packed with shoppers and tourists. In contrast the upstairs section is calm and quiet. An employee calls it the company's inner sanctum and it includes offices, the showroom, a design studio and workshops, where prototypes for the ready-to-wear show and every haute couture garment is made from start to finish.
However, the most special part of the building, and true testament to the brand's history, can be found on the third floor, where a 120-square metre apartment sits behind a non-descript rectangular mirrored door. Closed to the public, it is here that Mademoiselle Chanel spent every working day, meeting and greeting with press, doing fittings and hosting intimate dinner parties before retiring to her suite at the nearby Ritz in the evening. Built in the 1930s, the apartment stands exactly as it was when Chanel died in 1971.
Delving into the private world of Chanel is a rare treat reserved for an elite few. The apartment can only be accessed via a modern circular staircase surrounded by mirrors built so Chanel could easily spy on the salon below. The area is bathed in the faint scent of Chanel No 5, Mademoiselle's favourite perfume, which was sprayed throughout the building.
Coco Chanel is not only regarded as one of fashion's most influential designers, but as one of its most intriguing. Born in 1883 to an impoverished family, she was raised in the orphanage of a Catholic monastery, where she learned to sew. At 18 she moved to Paris, and began designing hats. By 1913 she had opened her first boutique and would go on to create clothes that would liberate women, with her masculine-inspired tailoring and revolutionary shapes, such as the little black dress. Her empire grew, making hers a true rags to riches story. Despite this, very few knew Chanel intimately, but a look at her apartment reveals certain quirks that are testament to her unique character.
The apartment is made up of four rooms - an entrance, separate salon and dining room for entertaining, and a smaller bureau which leads to a bathroom and small kitchen (both of which no longer exist). The first room, the entrance, has walls covered by 17th-century Coromandel Oriental screens that Chanel discovered at an antique shop (she would later amass a collection of almost 32 pieces, many dotted throughout the apartment). The screens, which are nailed to a wall rather than free standing, were considered exotic at the time and are made from lacquered and engraved wood panels that depict traditional Chinese symbols - pagodas, horsemen, chimera and flowers including her favourite, the white camellia - showing Chanel's affinity to the Far East, even though she never visited that part of the world
One screen in particular features a dragon and phoenix (representative of the male and female respectively), but unlike most traditional designs, this piece shows the phoenix to be much larger than the Dragon. Chanel employees say that Mademoiselle's spirit is very much embodied by the bird, which like her stands tall and proud, reigning over the room.