Chanel Honolulu welcomes Douglas Kirkland on its 25th anniversary
By Nadine Kam
Nadine Kam photos, except for Douglas Kirkland’s, which should be evident
The third floor VIP Salon at Chanel Waikiki has been transformed into an art gallery for the exhibition of 36 photos by Douglas Kirkland of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, taken in 1962 when the designer was 27 years old.
Chanel’s Waikiki boutique welcomed Douglas Kirkland during a reception Thursday night welcoming the photographer and opening the exhibition of 36 of his photos of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, taken in 1962. The show continues through June 6.
The exhibition opened in New York eight months ago, and while curator James Cavello, president of Westwood Gallery in New York, said he showed 15 pieces at Art Basel in Miami — the most important art show in the nation — and in Los Angeles, but this is only the second time the exhibition is being shown in its entirety. The occasion is to mark Chanel’s 25th anniversary in Honolulu, the first city in the United States to have a Chanel boutique. To make way for the exhibition, the boutique’s third-floor was emptied of its usual displays and walls and track lighting were added to transform it into a fitting gallery space for Kirkland’s work.
Seeing the photos again, he said, “I feel Mademoiselle is here tonight.”
For many guests, meeting Kirkland provided a connection to the fashion icon, who he still refers to as Mademoiselle.
“If you knew her, you called her Mademoiselle, not Coco. She hated that. She had a short career as a cabaret singer — not a very successful one. Coco was her stage name.”
The photographer was only 27 when he got the assignment from Look magazine to photograph Chanel. The interest grew out of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy’s wardrobe, which included Chanel pieces, and editors at the time wanted to share a glimpse into the world of haute couture.
Kirkland said, naturally, “I felt overwhelmed, but whenever I was in these situations I would never admit this. That was my attitude.”
Because of his youth, however, he said the designer didn’t trust him and requested that he first photograph her models in her designs.
“I brought her the prints, and what she saw she liked, and the doors opened,” he said. “I was free to go anywhere in her atelier.”
Kirkland has shot in Hawaii before, during the making of the movie “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and for the “Day in the Life of Hawaii” photography project in 1983, when he photographed the Big Island by air. He also notably spent an “evening with Marilyn Monroe” for Look, photographing her in bed the year before she died.
Douglas Kirkland photo
The photographer spent an evening with Marilyn Monroe in 1961.
One party-goer, Holly Bloom, brought back more memories for Kirkland, by wearing a dress bearing an image of Audrey Hepburn, who he photographed on the set of “How to Steal a Million.” He was photographing Audrey when he met his wife Françoise, who was visiting her mother, who worked in the film’s publicity department.
“Was it love at first sight?” I asked. “Yes!” he said, before backtracking a bit, saying, “Well, you better ask her.”
Karl Lagerfeld was recently taken by one of Kirkland’s images of a Chanel dress modeled by Yves Saint Laurent muse Betty Catroux, and he plans to recreate the dress in a future collection. Inspired by the images, he also reproduced Kirkland’s images in a book, “Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel Summer 62.”
I asked people throughout the evening which was their favorite photo, and many chose this image of the iconic Chanel, observing a sitting in her 31 Rue Cambon atelier, cigarette hanging from her lips, and scissors dangling from a length of ribbon around her neck.
Douglas Kirkland holds court, surrounded by a circle of admirers in the center of the salon.
Douglas, at 27, with Mademoiselle.
Kirkland said Mademoiselle didn’t trust him at first, so she invited him to photograph her models. It was only after she saw the prints from that session that she granted him access to all aspects of her work and atelier.
Seeing the energy in the room, Françoise envisioned auctioning a portrait session with Kirkland, for charity. “Looking at everyone, they really seem to respond to him. It’s not like this is just a fashion event. There’s such a warmth in the room,” she said. “It’s important to do give something back for charity, so something good can come out of all these things that we do.”
Françoise and Douglas Kirkland talk to Kristen Chan and Holly Bloom, center, in her Audrey Hepburn dress.
Photographer Ronen Zilberman mimics his favorite photo of Chanel, in which the designer adds emphasis while explaining to Kirkland, “I design for the bustline. I want to see the girl underneath the fabric.”
Karin and John Koga, with Tia Gaurani of Chanel Waikiki.
Artist/designer Kamea Hadar with his mom Nodie Hadar.
Willow Chang and Honolulu magazine’s A. Kam Napier.
Also attending were Jennifer Tan, Nora Gentry, Gail Myers and Alicia Chen.
Tiana Torii tries on Chanel’s ruby watch, the only one available in the world. It’s price tag: $510,000.
Also on exhibition on the boutique’s second floor is a small preview exhibition of Chanel’s Paris-Moscow collection.
