Coco Chanel and Her Chinoiserie Tastes

Watching the movie of the relationship between Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky the other night reminded me of Chanel’s tastes for Chinoiserie. There’s a rather nice moment in the movie when Coco welcomes the Stravinsky family (exiled White Russians by this time) into her villa Bel Respiro at Garches and shows them the China Room. However, Chanel had Chinoiserie wherever she lived be it her Parisian apartment at 31 Rue Cambon, her French Riviera villa La Pausa or her suite of rooms at the Paris Ritz. Chinoiserie wherever she was in residence…

the movie recreation of Chanel’s China Room at Bel Respiro in Garches

Chanel’s China screen at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris

Chanel’s bedroom at La Pausa on the Riveria which was draped in Chinoiserie fabrics and wallpaper