The Power Of Flowers
Camellias from Chanel’s open-air laboratory in Gaujacq, situated in southwestern France, will sprout up in Paris’ Tuileries Gardens between June 9 and 12 as part of the park’s Jardin, Jardin event.
Showcased there will be the Camellia japonica, dubbed The Czar, which is the key ingredient used in Chanel’s No.1 first clean beauty line, which includes skin care, makeup and fragrance.
Inside and outside one greenhouse in the Tuileries, visitors will be able to learn about camellias’ properties
— one of which is having the ability to flourish in the heart of winter — and their history, as well as Chanel’s commitments to sustainable cultivation methods.
A second greenhouse is to showcase camellias themselves. Information will be given about the flower’s functions and cosmetics benefits.
Out beginning in early January, the No.1 products are formulated with up to 97 percent of ingredients stemming from natural origin. The star ingredient is house founder Gabrielle Chanel’s iconic flower, with No.1 product formulas including up to 76 percent camellia derivatives, such as petals, seeds and yeasts. Those were chosen for their ability to enhance skin and preserve its youthful appearance, according to the company.
In Chanel’s camellia fields, agro-ecological cultivation methods are used. At the research laboratory in Gaujacq, parts of the fully blossomed camellias, especially of The Czar, are handpicked and made into an oil rich in protocatechuic acid and antioxidants.
In 2018, Chanel’s contribution to the Jardin, Jardin event were some of the house’s key fragrance flowers from Grasse, France, including jasmine, May rose, iris pallida, tuberose and rose geranium. — JENNIFER WEIL culture and a style that stands the test of time.
“We’ve designed shoes together in the past,” Free said about working with Lamar on the sneakers. “The Chuck 70 and Pro Leather still has elements from those shoes. We learned a lot from that process of what not to do and took a stab at a new take.”
The Chuck 70 pair sports an off-white upper, neutral logo patch and PgLang branding, while the Pro Leather has a white and neutral color pattern on the upper and logo and the company’s branding alongside Converse’s Star Chevron and the sneaker’s heel. Free teased the Chuck 70 and Pro Leather sneakers on his Instagram in April.
The duo went for subtle details on these styles, like the hiking-style eyelets that Free said will patina over time and give character to them, cryptic text graphics and asymmetric rubber varnish. Also, the white colorway lends itself to customization. “You can’t reinvent the wheel but you can refine it,” Free said.
He added about the partnership: “We have this thing now where we cold-call companies and tell them what we want to do and Converse was down. We were wearing Chucks all the time so we thought we might as well do a PgLang take on it.”
Lamar and Free founded PgLang in March 2020 to tell stories that connect people through shared experiences. They unveiled the venture with a visual mission statement starring Lamar, music artists Jorja Smith and Baby Keem, and actress Yara Shahidi.
Free in April 2022 revealed on Twitter that PgLang stands for “program language” and added “Pg is the operating system; bring your files, let’s work codevelopers.”
Since its establishment, PgLang has collaborated with Calvin Klein, producing a series of seven short films for the brand written and directed by Free, and signed artists Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, the latter of whom released a new album, “Sleepy Soldier,” on April 28. Leone stars alongside model Seleh Marley in the Savannah Setten-directed content piece supporting the PgLang for Converse launch
As for more collaborations in the future, Free said, “I don’t see why not collab. We always get opportunities to work with really dope brands that understand the vision and we want to keep that going. Any partner or artist we consider alumni.”
— OBI ANYANWU