This document summarizes Chanel's long history and popularity in the Middle East, especially among wealthy women in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain. It describes how women in the Gulf states were early adopters of Western fashion due to education and travel. Chanel in particular had a large following in the region dating back to the 1950s. The article profiles several high-profile women and their personal connections to Chanel through the decades, such as owning vintage pieces or always dressing in the brand's classic suits and accessories. It also highlights key moments like Karl Lagerfeld's couture shows that featured Lesage embroidery inspired by the region.

1. 82|Harper’s BAZAAR|May 2014
CREDITHERE
CREDITHERE
As Chanel unveils its cruise
2014/15 collection in Dubai
– the first time an international
brand has debuted a collection
in the Middle East – Saudi’s
Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz
recounts the house’s storied
relationship with the glamorous
women of the Gulf
c h a n e l
i n t h e
o r i e n t
talkingpointThe
Karl Lagerfeld with
models in his A/W
1996 haute couture
collection for Chanel
ericrobert/sygma/corbis

2. 84|Harper’s BAZAAR|May 2014 May 2014|Harper’s BAZAAR|85
ILLUSTRATION:NADINEKANSO
kammermann/gamma-rapho/gettyimages.ruedesarchives/pvde.jean-claudedeutsch/parismatch.courtesydanaalkhalifa.pierrevauthey/sygma/corbis.ericrobert/sygma/corbis
I
TalkingpointThe
’d like to think that hidden away in a trunk somewhere in Jeddah or
Kuwait is a beautifully preserved example of Chanel’s first tweed suit
from 1954, when she reopened her couture house after 15 years of
absence. It may have been purchased on a trip to cosmopolitan Beirut or
Cairo, or even during a rare voyage across the Atlantic to London or
Paris. Such a discovery is not so improbable if one considers the countless
family albums across the region filled with photos of elegantly dressed
women; hinting at the Gulf’s long love affair with Mademoiselle.
It is also a story of cultural exchange at a time when the Gulf was
experiencing a period of rapid transformation. In 1980, when the French
president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing toured the Gulf States, his tall elegant
wife accompanied him, dressed by Paris’ top houses; a perfect example of
couture diplomacy at its best. There is one particular image that sticks in
my mind of Anne Giscard d’Estaing in Doha striding confidently in
a chic Chanel knee-length suit, next to a woman in traditional Qatari
dress. Who could have predicted that in a mere three decades Qatar’s
own first lady, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, would become
the perfect ambassadress for the Parisian house, immaculately turned
out in Chanel haute couture during official trips to England and Spain?
Dig deep and one will find enough individuals in the Gulf with
a Chanel story to tell that pieces together the house’s long and at times
discreet presence in the region. Mine began in high school with a friend
whose mother, a long time Chanel devotee, made it a point to dress her
daughter in the house’s signature prêt-à-porter. Ironically, it was Chanel’s
haute couture that had a much larger following in Saudi Arabia than the
Parisian label’s more accessible ready-to-wear or accessories. From
a young age, I remember attending several weddings in Riyadh where
the bride was not only dressed in a dramatic gown by the house, but also
many of the women in attendance, who wore exquisite evening dresses
sprinkled with Lesage embroidery.
Couture’s fortunes, at least beginning
in the later half of the 20th century,
have always been closely linked to
that of the region; a relationship
that was acutely felt in 1991
during the first Gulf War, when
prominent Arab clients were
absent from the Paris collections.
Yet I will always remember
Karl Lagerfeld’s spring/summer
couture show that year for
Chanel, which I glimpsed in the
pages of fashion magazines as
a young girl. 1991 proved to be
a year of change for haute couture,
as it transformed itself from
a dowager empress into a
laboratory of ideas. Although Karl
incorporated plastic and latex into
his hand-sewn creations, it was the
image of Linda Evangelista coming
down the Chanel runway in a green
taffeta ball gown that left an
indelible impression on me. That
season the model had reinvented
herself as a platinum blonde,
inspiring Lagerfeld to name the
dress’ pale hue Linda Green.
Since his 1983 debut at Chanel,
Karl has become known for his
extravagant showmanship. Yet
although his shows were fun to
watch, what was lost was the chance
to see at close range his genius as
a couturier; especially when one
considers that he is the last designer
working today who trained in Paris
during couture’s heyday in the
1950s (under the tutelage of
individuals who had received theirs
in the 1920s no less). It is the kind
of cumulative knowledge that is
irreplaceable, and why Lagerfeld
stands out among his peers.
or me, Karl’s most exquisite
couture shows for Chanel
didn’t take place under the
glass roof of the Petit Palais,
but in the magical
atmosphere of the Windsor Suite at the Ritz.
It was there that Coco Chanel lived in the
years before her death, and there that Karl
presented two of his most memorable couture
collections for the house in 1996. The choice of location not
only marked a return to presentations on a more intimate scale, but a
reminder that couture is ultimately a celebration of the atelier’s technical
wizardry. A chance to see close up the delicate piecing of a seamless lace
dress, the exacting fit of a jacket or the precise drape of a bias-cut gown
strewn with millions of tiny iridescent pearls.
The scene radiated a quiet luxury as Yasmeen Ghauri, Helena
Christensen and Naomi Campbell wafted through the suite’s salons,
packed with editors and clients perched on tiny gilded chairs under
crystal chandeliers. Occasionally the hem of a skirt would
brush up against a guest’s knees as a model walked past, stopping
momentarily in front of a window to admire the Place Vendôme’s
19th century streetlights glowing through the mist. For the
house’s spring 1996 couture collection, Amber Valletta modelled
an unforgettable evening dress inspired by a ceremonial Indian
costume. Sporting 1,280 hours worth of gold thread embroidery,
it became Chanel’s most expensive couture creation to date. This
technical feat was topped the following autumn couture season, when
Karl sent out Kate Moss and Stella Tennant in evening coats worked
with 800 hours worth of Lesage embroidery to recreate the Chinese
Coromandel screens in Coco Chanel’s apartment.
Karl Lagerfeld was always at his best when he distilled the house’s
codes to their purest essence, especially in 1996 when minimalism
reigned in fashion. That same year I acquired my first Chanel jacket,
a brown version with a fitted hourglass shape and military collar from
“InBahrainit’sneverbeen
aboutthecompletelook,
insteadmostwomenwillmix
andmatchaChanelbag
orjacketwithotheritems
intheircloset”
Sheikha Dana Al Khalifa
F
➤
“ChanelbecamepopularinKuwaitbecauseitwasaninstantly
recognisablestyle.Thecamellia,thechainbelts,quiltedbagsand
tweedjacketstrimmedinbraidweretheperfectstatussymbolfor
Kuwaitiwomenbecausetheclothesspokeforthemselves”
Sheikha Souad Al Sabah
Sheikha Nashmiya
Ahmad Jaber Al Sabah
Sheikha Dana Al
Khalifa in her first
Chanel jacket
Linda Evangelista
in Chanel haute
couture A/W 1996
Left: Coco Chanel
in her apartment
on Rue Cambon
in 1959. Below:
France’s former
First Lady Anne-
Aymone Giscard
d’Estaing wearing
Chanel in Qatar
in 1980
Claudia Shiffer
in Chanel
haute couture
S/S 1996
Deena Abdulaziz’s
first Chanel jacket,
from 1996
Saudi Prince Alwaleed with his mother
Muna es-Solh wearing Chanel in 1962
talkingpointThe

3. steichen/vogue/©CONDENAST.archivesmonte-carlosbm.lipnitzki/rogerviollet.corbis
DEROSNAY/VOGUE/©CONDENAST.pierreguillaud/afp.danielsimon/gamma.jean-claudesaver/parismatchviagettyimages.
ericrobert/sygma/corbis.antoinedeparseval
1991 Inspired by Linda
Evangelista, Karl Lagerfeld
named the colour of his pale
taffeta gown Linda Green for
his S/S 1992 couture collection.
the autumn/winter ready-to-wear collection. I first spotted it on Claudia
Schiffer in a fashion editorial, and immediately fell in love with the
jacket, which sported a row of tiny gold buttons with discreet linked C’s
down the front. I spent the next few months saving my pocket money in
anticipation of a trip to New York that summer, where I was determined
to make my way to Chanel’s 57th street boutique.
In the 1990s, nabbing a Chanel suit was a fashion rite of passage, not
to mention a major accomplishment considering there were waiting lists
and one size per store. I didn’t know if I would find the jacket of my
dreams that day as I walked into the Chanel boutique, past the cosmetics
counter and up the flight of stairs to the ready-to-wear salon. Going
‘upstairs’ has always been part of the of the Chanel ritual. Coco knew
a stairway had drama, and the New York boutique’s staircase resembled
that of its Rue Cambon peer with vertical strips of mirrors that reflected
your every move.
iraculously a sales assistant informed me that
the store had one sample in my size. Close
up, the modern streamlined version of the
iconic Chanel jacket still featured hidden
house signatures such as silk satin lining and
a gold chain sewn around its inside hem; a detail Coco invented to make
her jackets hang evenly. As I slipped it on in the boutique’s ample
changing room, I felt like I was being transformed into a sophisticated
Parisian. Years later, on another visit to New York in 2005, I was given
a behind-the-scenes tour of the Met Costume Institute during
preparations for its exhibition on Chanel. It was fascinating to watch the
conservators working on pieces she had designed at the beginning of her
career in the 1920s and ’30s. There was a timelessness to the clothes,
especially elegant little black dresses that could easily be worn today.
To be sure, Chanel’s reach in the Gulf went far beyond Saudi Arabia.
In fact I had always associated the label with Kuwaiti women from
a young age. As early as the 1980s I would see them in London wearing
head to toe Chanel, no surprise considering Kuwait was always the first
to adopt new fashion trends in the region. “Our geographic location in
the Gulf exposed Kuwaitis early on to different cultures through trade.
In addition, Kuwaitis were some of the first in the Gulf to study abroad,
initially in places such as Beirut and Cairo, and later England and the
United States. So they brought back with them a taste for Western
fashion,” says Sheikha Alia Al Sabah, whose grandmother Sheikha
Nashmiya Ahmad Jaber Al Sabah was always exquisitely dressed
in Chanel.
“My earliest memory of Chanel was thanks to my grandmother, who
gave me my first Chanel bag when I was 13. She was an incredibly strong
woman and a pillar in the family. In a sense she reflected Kuwaiti women
who were very independent and that also reflected itself in the way she
dressed,” recalls Sheikha Alia, noting that Kuwait was the first country
in the Gulf to get its own Chanel boutique in 1981. “It was housed in
a small retail space at the former Hilton hotel.The clothes and accessories
would fly off the racks as soon as they arrived, so women began calling
the boutique ahead to reserve items for themselves,” adds Sheikha Alia’s
sister, Sheikha Souad Al Sabah, pointing out that their grandmother’s
favourite Chanel boutique was on London’s Bond Street.
“She’d been a regular client there since the 1980s. Growing up,
I always remember that on each trip to London, her first stop would be
the Chanel boutique to update her wardrobe, followed by tea at the
Savoy or the Westbury,” recalls Sheikha Alia. “She didn’t speak English
very well and would always bring along one of her grandchildren to talk
to the sales lady. I remember her always asking ‘is this the only one?’ in
reference to a blouse or jacket she liked, as she always wanted to have one
of a kind items from the label,” she adds.
“I think Chanel became so popular in Kuwait because it was an
instantly recognisable style. The camellia, the chain belts, quilted bags,
and tweed jackets trimmed in braid were the perfect status symbol for
Kuwaiti women because the clothes spoke for themselves. It was not
unusual to see some women wearing the complete Chanel look down to
the black tipped shoes,” notes Sheikha Souad, adding that for her
grandmother it was never about showing off. “She loved what Karl
Lagerfeld was doing at Chanel in the ’90s, but she was always attracted
to a refined and discreet kind of luxury. She didn’t gravitate to the showy
pieces but would always select the most beautifully tailored tweed suits
talkingpointThe
1969 Marisa Berenson, whose
grandmother Elsa Schiaparelli was
Chanel’s rival, looking chic in a white
Chanel ensemble.
1994 Claudia Schiffer, backstage at
Chanel’s spring/summer couture show,
in an evening gown sporting Lesage
embroidered Arabic calligraphy.
1996 Stella Tennant in Lesage’s
embroidered coat for Chanel
A/W 1996 couture which
recreated the Coromandel
screens in Coco’s apartment.
2011 Lakshmi Menon
modelling a look
from my favourite
Chanel Métiers d’Art
collection, Paris-
Bombay pre-fall 2012.
1989 Inès de la Fressange,
Chanel’s iconic face in
the 1980s, modelling a
memorable look with
Oriental-inspired embroidery
from A/W 1989.
1929 Marion Morehouse
captured by Edward
Steichen in Chanel’s
eternally chic creation,
the little black dress.
1933 Chanel introduced the vogue for tanning and I love this rare image of her
[far right] dressed in white seated next to ballet dancer and choreographer Serge
Lifar at a dinner in Monte Carlo.
1937 Chanel with aristocratic jeweller
Count Fulco di Verdura, who created the
house’s iconic Maltese Cross cuffs.
1962 The Chanel suit took
centre stage in Visconti
and Fellini’s Boccaccio ’70
alongside Romy Schneider.
Deena Abdulaziz’s Top 10 Chanel Moments
in classic cream and black; updated by Lagerfeld with modern cuts,”
continues Sheikha Souad, pointing out that her grandmother’s
understated elegance also extended to her choice of accessories.
“In addition to being immaculately dressed in Chanel at all times, she
always had her classic 2.55 quilted bag by her side with her Chanel rouge
at the ready,” she recalls of her elegant grandmother.
If the Kuwaitis were some of the first to adopt new fashion trends in
the Gulf, the Bahrainis were not far
behind. “Education definitely played
a factor in Bahraini women adopting
western fashions early on. The first
school for girls opened in 1928, and
a number of students who graduated
from it became the first to be sent
abroad in the 1950s to study at colleges
in Beirut,” observes Sheikha Dana Al
Khalifa, who considers these women
pioneers on many levels. “They not
only brought back with them the
designer fashions they saw there, but
laid the foundation for future
generations of Bahraini women to
become independent and career
driven,” adds Sheikha Dana, who
acquired her first vintage Chanel suit
while studying law in London.
“I’ve always been a fan of vintage clothes, and my first Chanel
purchase was a ’90s era three-piece red and gold Chanel suit at
Rellik, the amazing vintage store on Golborne Road. It came with
a beautifully tailored high-waisted skirt with two front pleats,” recalls
Sheikha Dana, who also purchased a matching red and gold Chanel
cardigan that day. “I was fascinated by the level of detail and
workmanship that went into the jacket, such as the gold chain on the
inside hem to weigh it down properly as well as the two coins
concealed in the lining so that it falls beautifully on the body,” she
observes, noting that in contrast to their Kuwaiti peers, Bahraini
women seldom wore head to toe Chanel.
“In Bahrain it’s never been about the complete look, instead most
women will mix and match a Chanel bag or jacket with other items in
their closet. I often wear my Chanel skirt to work with different tops
because it’s the perfect length and cut. Whereas I will reserve the jacket
and cardigan for special events because they are quite bold. I also have
a cropped pink Chanel jacket that I love to pair with dresses for a more
finished look,” says Sheikha Dana, pointing out that for most working
women in Bahrain, Chanel has always
been an aspirational luxury brand.
“They will save money to purchase that
special bag or jacket because it’s a way
for women to show their independence
or success professionally,” she observes,
mentioning that she also treated herself
to Chanel shortly after reaching
a professional milestone.
“My favourite Chanel moment was
purchasing my first pair of Chanel
shoes from the Paris-Londres collection
in 2008 with my own money. I found
them at the Chanel boutique in Piazza
della Signoria in Florence the summer
I got my first job,” recalls Sheikha
Dana, who saved up to buy her first
Chanel bag two years later. “I had been
working full time by that point and had
decided to treat myself to my first bag from the original Rue Cambon
store in Paris. When I arrived at the store with my sister, I was told the
bag I was looking for wasn’t at Rue Cambon but down the street on Rue
Saint-Honoré. Despite this I was equally thrilled and couldn’t stop
smiling,” she adds, confiding that she remains very protective of her
Chanel bag. “I literally cried once when it got a huge oil stain on it at
a dinner party. Thankfully my husband managed to take the stain out
and told me not to become too emotionally invested in Chanel… I told
him it was an impossible request!”
As told to Alex Aubry
M
■
“Inthe1990s,nabbinga
Chanelsuitwasafashion
riteofpassage.AsIslipped
onajacket,Ifelt
transformedintoa
sophisticatedParisian”
Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz
86|Harper’s BAZAAR|May 2014 May 2014|Harper’s BAZAAR|87