LAGERFAN.com

“Chanel’s Russian Connection” is a new book by Karl Lagerfeld that will be released on November, 30 2009. Even though there is Chanel name in the book title it definately shows Lagerfeld’s connection to Russia or his passion to Russia, I would say.

The album shows the process of Paris-Moscou collection creation by Metiers d’Arts – 7 ateliers that were recreated in 2002 on Lagerfeld’s initiative. These ateliers are the best in costume jewellery, millinery, shoes creating and embroidery, which they provide all couture houses with. Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris-Moscou collection for Chanel shows Karl’s view on Russia with all its Imperial period and Constructivism, Catherine The Great and Faberge, folklore and Coco Chanel’s love to Russia with the Ballets Russes and her relationship with Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich.

Karl Lagerfeld once said that he could show lots of his imagination because he had never been to Russi before. As French would say “Karl est tres modeste”, because who is not the one who has lack of imagination. Paris-Moscou collection proves that Karl is all about fantasy and fairy-tale. “Chanel’s Russian Connection” will show on photos the whole process of collection creation, even the fitting in Chanel’s apartment on rue Cambon. It’s interesting to mention that all models were russian. Karl is right once again – nobody can show russian beauty better than russin girls can do it.

The book will be released together with “Coco 1913 – Chanel 1923″ on DVD.

lamodetribune.com

In Metamorphoses of an American, Karl Lagerfeld traces the physical and emotional development of Brad Kroenig, once an unknown but now the world’s most sought-after male model. Lagerfeld discovered Kroenig in 2003, took his first photographs of him in Biarritz, and since then has observed him through his photographic lens, month by month. In hundreds of photographs Lagerfeld explores Kroenig’s evolution from a young “All American Boy” into a professional model conscious of the subtleties of facial and corporeal expression. These photographs are however not simply documentation; rather Lagerfeld and Kroenig work together to create a new persona, one which Kroenig expresses without losing a sense of his own self.

Lagerfeld selects a spectrum of literary and cultural references for Kroenig to interpret: we see him as James Dean, as Rudolph Valentino, as a Gatsby-like figure from F. Scott Fitzgerald, and as Lieutenant Pinkerton from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Yet throughout these transformations, there is never the sense that Kroenig is merely acting; instead he presents newly discovered aspects of himself through the guises of other characters. Metamorphoses of an American contains photography made both within and beyond the fashion world. However regardless of the purpose of Lagerfeld’s images, each one evidences rigorous formal principles grounded in an appreciation of early twentieth-century photographers such as Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen. Indeed Lagerfeld refers to his work more as “pictures” than photographs, conveying the graphic processes of construction and design from which each image emerges.

Price
UK £45.00
US $85.00
EC €65.00

* Four clothbound hardcover books, foil stamped with tipped-in image on the front, housed in a handmade slipcase
* 1144 pages
* 15.2 cm x 20 cm
* Flexible Hardcover
* STEIDL Photography International
* Publication date: June 2008