Film cycle Picasso/Chanel

In this film the Ballet of the Ópera de Paris performs two of the ballets for which Picasso designed the sets in collaboration with other artists: Le Train bleu, with costumes designed by Gabrielle Chanel, and Le Tricorne, both created by Serge Diaghilev.

Nella Vago is an operatic diva whose agent criticises her lack of passion when singing. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this romantic comedy involved the participation of Gabrielle Chanel, who designed the costumes for the principal character, played by Gloria Swanson. Shown by courtesy of the Mary Pickford Foundation and VCI Entertainment, Inc

Directed by Marcel Carné, this film is one of the most important examples of French poetic realism. The main character, played by Jean Gabin, is a deserter from the French army who escapes to Le Havre where he meets the young Nelly. The strange death of a local painter allows him to adopt his identity and start a new life. Chanel designed the principal actors’ costumes, notably the leading lady’s raincoat and beret, which became film and fashion icons.

Inspired by the novel Coco & Igor by Chris Greenhalgh, director Jan Kounen’s film recounts the supposed relationship between musician Igor Stravinsky and Coco Chanel in early 20th-century Paris.

This comedy of intrigue involves a group of members of French high society who spend a weekend on a country estate in the Sologne. Jean Renoir commissioned Gabrielle Chanel to design the costumes, becoming good friends with her and working with her on other projects.

This session features three films: Correspondances Jean Cocteau-Pablo Picasso, a documentary directed by Dorothée Lachaud which explores the friendship between the two creative masters through their letters, and two shorts directed by the designer Karl Lagerfield; Once upon a time, which focuses on Gabrielle Chanel’s beginnings with the opening of her first boutique in Deauville in 1913, and The Return, which narrates Chanel’s return to the fashion world after a fifteen-year absence.