31 Rue Cambon

Chanel is launching an in house publication entitled 31 Rue Cambon (named after the address of the first Chanel boutique). It is designed and art-directed by Olivier Zahm, who also happens to be the editor-in-chief of Purple, which also happens to be the magazine that published this infamous editorial.

Karl seems to be pulling out all the stops in order to ensure that the house of Chanel will weather these touch economic waters and emerge unscathed. An in-house publication distributed to all stores is something I equate more with the fast fashion of H&M rather than Chanel tweed and 2.55s. But I guess you have to try anything to make sure your customers stay loyal and keep buying. And bringing back a recognizable face (Claudia Schiffer) for the ad campaign also falls in line with this reasoning. The typical Chanel customer would probably recognize Claudia from past campaigns, and she is part of the 90's supermodel clan after all.

Anyway, being that this is a Karl project, you can bet Freja will be all over the magazine along with Baptiste. An early preview already proves this to be true.

Lara, Heidi and maybe even Charlotte di Calypso should also figure into the visual equation, as they seem to be other favorites of Karl's when it comes to Chanel. Zahm is an interesting, and perhaps risky choice to helm the project, but it makes me excited for the final outcome. I definitely want to see what the man responsible for raunchy, full frontal nudity editorials can do with that Chanel tweed and those 2.55 bags. Don't you?

But with the release date unknown and Chanel stores scare, there's no telling when we'll get to see full and proper scans. As is the case with Twin magazine (at least 8 weeks for me), we might be waiting for a while.

Image Credits: purple-diary