Measuring up Inside Chanel’s haute couture ateliers
Go inside Chanel’s haute couture ateliers with Olivia Douchez, the youngest ever studio head.
The faceted mirrored staircase of 31 Rue Cambon in Paris famously leads up to the inner sanctum of Coco Chanel’s private apartment. She would sit there, hidden and peering from the corner, to watch the reactions to her fashion shows. But keep on going – a few more flights, a few more twists and turns – and the all-white couture ateliers will be revealed. And there stands Olivia Douchez, the youngest head of one of Chanel’s haute couture ateliers.
“It was my childhood dream to work with Karl Largerfeld,” gushes Olivia, who as a child would watch her mother sew and create garments, instilling a love and understanding of the craftsmanship it took to create couture. In charge of an atelier flou, one of the two ateliers that work with soft fabrics for garments like blouses, flowing skirts and diaphanous gowns, she oversees the seamstresses called petites mains, the fairy tale-esque name translates to ‘ little hands’.
I’m told later on that she had a particular sartorial anity with the late Chanel creative director, rising quickly through the ranks to become an atelier head. It’s even all the more remarkable that she is only 36. “For me, Chanel is the real reference for all couture and ready-to-wear in the world,” says Olivia, who previously worked at Givenchy for 10 years. And as she points out, it’s rare nowadays for a house to have its couture ateliers and ready-to-wear ateliers all under one roof, as Chanel has done.
Olivia remembers how nervous she was before her first interview. “I was stressed for weeks, but Karl really made it comfortable and easy for me, and we talked immediately and for a long time – it’s the best memory for me, because it was so emotional.”
Six weeks before a show, Olivia tells me, she would sit with Karl to understand his vision for a collection. Translating his detailed sketches into a toile, it’s Olivia’s hands that are
the “first to put the pins on the toile – to give the shape of the silhouette,” before her team joins to build the entire toile with her. “But, the first hand is mine,” she repeats as emphasis.
She excitedly takes me through the atelier, introducing me to her team, who proudly show o garments they are working on. There are sewn-on jewels that mimic the tessellations of Parisian cobblestones, and other embellishments that Olivia interprets from other elements taken from the City of Lights. Geometric patterns to her mimic the grilled ironwork of the Eiel Tower, and ornamentation to Olivia looks like the padlocks that lovers attach to bridges, like uneven, jagged scales. The pale green of some of the looks, including the finale wedding gown worn by model Adut Akech, reminds Olivia of the green colour of oxidised bronze Parisian roofs. “Paris was the inspiration, so you see a lot of symbols and references to the city.”
In a brief detour to atelier tailleur, presided by another head, a petites mains moves aside to show me a gloriously embroidered jacket he is working on, pointing out the toile next to him, where sketches of embroidered floral were carefully placed by Karl. The tailleur is where tailored pieces like jackets and other pieces with firmer fabrics are made, and traditionally were manned by men. Now, in this atelier, it’s a mix of men and women.
With less than 24 hours left until the ’19 haute couture show, the atelier is startlingly calm. I ask her how her team is tracking for this season. “It depends on the season. I’m very confident on the timing; it’s pretty comfortable,” she says undaunted. “This one is under control.”