Horst P. Horst and Karl LagerfeldGerman born photographer Horst P. Horst built a prolific body of work photographing high society, fashion and architecture for American and French Vogue. The year Horst would meet Gabrielle Chanel, he took the most memorable and well-known image of the fashion designer’s life. Although taken years earlier in 1937, the portrait was first published in the February 15, 1954 issue of Vogue. In 2008, photographer Cathleen Naundorf paid homage to the Horst portrait by photographing designs by Chanel’s successor Karl Lagerfeld in a similar composition. Set in Chanel’s Parisian apartment at 31 Rue Cambon, Naundorf similarly positioned a Chanel-clad model on a chaise lounge, just as Chanel herself had done years ago.


Coco Chanel (Reclining) by Horst P. Horst, 1937

Coco Chanel (Reclining) by Horst P. Horst, 1937

Chanel Haute Couture by Karl Lagerfeld Collection Summer 2006 Photographed by Cathleen Naundorf, 2008

Chanel Haute Couture by Karl Lagerfeld Collection Summer 2006 Photographed by Cathleen Naundorf, 2008

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