Peach Blossoms and Wheat Ears: Chanel in the Country

I’ve recently written an article for Vogue Italia website on Lady Amanda Harlech. I didn’t know much of her before doing some researches, but when I knew how important she has been for Karl Lagerfeld’s creative process in all the years she has worked at Chanel, I realized how much of her personality is to be found in Chanel collections. When I first saw the advertising campaign for the spring/summer 2010 collection, starring Freja Beha Erichsen, Claudia Schiffer and Baptiste Giabiconi, shot in Buenos Aires by Lagerfeld himself, I totally saw Amanda’s influence in some shots.

I don’t like the collection much (those clogs are one of the most hideous things I’ve ever seen in my life), but I must admit the campaign is brilliant. The shot above totally reminds me of Amanda, whose life is a constant balancing between Paris and her country house in the Shropshire. Freja’s face is wrapped in white tulle, a very fin de siècle touch, while sitting on a hay sheaf.