Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2009  

Underneath the glass roof of the Cambon-Capucines pavilion was like a giant pop-up book made of white paper. The grandiose décor was made up of monochrome arrangements of roses, daisies, leaves and petals winding their way up and around the room’s 32 impressive columns and draped over the railings of the entry stairway where the models appeared. Not to mention the 84 round tables with their tablecloths and paper bouquets. All in all, there were 7000 handmade paper flowers, which took a total of 4800 hours of work to assemble. 4000 m2 of paper were needed to create these ephemeral sculptures, all in one color, or more aptly the non-color of preference for Mlle Chanel: “Women think about all colors, except the absence of color. For me black has everything. So does white. They are absolute beauty. They are the perfect match. Dress a woman in white or in black at a ball and all eyes will be upon her.”