Coco Avant Chanel: The costume sketches

Posted by Helen Lee at 10:38 pm July 22nd, 2009 | 0 comments

While the storyline and 1-trick-pony-looks from Audrey Tautou had me declare that you should all wait for the DVD release before checking out Coco Avant Chanel, I must admit some of the costume design, especially in the later part of the movie were inspired.

The woman behind the amazing costumes was Catherine Leterrier, who told Vogue.co.uk that she was completely free to design what she wanted for the film “before Chanel created her maison de couture.”

“The research process was the same as for any other period film,” Leterrier said. “We did research from real garments – in museums, flea markets, vintage shops or private collections – and research from painting and photos. For the show of the end we used authentic outfits from the Chanel Conservatory and Audrey Tautou wore a Chanel suit inspired by ‘Mademoiselle’ in the Sixties.”

And if you must go see the movie, I promise you the best thing about it is the clothes. But I strongly suggest you watch The September Issue or Valentino: The Last Emperor for a fascinating fashion film which transports you into a new world.

Check out more of the amazing sketches of the costumes over at GraziaDaily.co.uk.