The staff were
amazingly accommodating to me after I enquired about the infamous staircase, I think they were intrigued that I asked, that I knew of it. A
security guard kindly took me to a secured/private entrance which revealed the
mirrored staircase, I was mesmorised and felt inspired and overwhelmed by the idea that I was
in the same staircase that Chanel sat on many times during her years designing. Every
fashion show she secretly observed, from the top of the staircase through the
fragmented mirrors, the reactions of her guests. I tentatively asked to take a
photo, thinking I would be immediately dismissed but to my pleasure and surprise
I was allowed, the security guard even offering to take a photo of me. I was in
heaven and walking on clouds.
Chanel has always
intrigued me as a woman and a designer, as a progressive thinker and a boundary
pusher. I have always admired Chanel’s tenacity and audacious manner in her
approach to life and her aspirations. She was proudly opinionated and
unbelievably driven in a time when women were taking their first steps of
independence, it can be fairly said she even pathed a path in the revolution of woman's wear .
I had been to Paris
before and I have thoroughly enjoyed both visits, however I would have to say
my moment at Chanel was a real epiphany of what is possible if you believe in
yourself and push yourself against the drudgery of what life can be. I will always
be intrigued by the enigma of Coco Chanel and the legacy she has left behind. I
admire and respect her as a woman and a designer. She is one woman I would
certainly love to sit and have a deep conversation with if time travel were ever
possible…….
