Before the nineties supermodels there was Inès de la Fressange. Tim Blanks looks back on the career of the quintessentially French model who was a longtime muse to Karl Lagerfeld and served as the face of Chanel.
Here is a profile of onetime face of Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld Muse, Inès de la Fressange. The name might not mean much, but her face most definitely will resonate on some level, because she was Paris on a catwalk.
Inès was a face of Chanel before the supermodels arrived on the scene. As a proto supermodel in every aspect, she was the first model to sign an exclusive contract with an haute couture fashion house. She had that charm and attitude that really said Coco Chanel.
In 2011 De la Fressange wrote a book entitled ‘Parisian Chic’, which sold more than 1 milion copies.
Because she was so symbolic for France, she was called to model for Marianne, the symbol of France. She even succeeded Catherine Deneuve. But as Lagerfeld thought the magazine was too bourgeois for the brand, he ended personal and professional relationship with her. He reputedly said: “I do not dress up historic monuments.” Luckily, in 2011 they walked together the Spring/Summer Chanel show.
