Recently I realized that one of the aspects that attract me the most in buying vintage is that it doesn’t come easy. In our consumer society, all that we want is so easily available and our urges can be immediately satisfied. We can make up our mind that we ‘need’ something, we want to have it right away, we go to a shop, to purchase that what we thought wanted so bad and as quickly as the urge came, the joy of possessing the item fades away.

When falling for something vintage, the process is different. The right size, color, and shape of the item on your wishlist might not be available right away. Research, time, and patience are required. Months might pass, but once you know it was the right thing to do when finding the perfect one, the one that seems like it was specially made and waiting for you. Because of the effort you put into finding the item, it will give you joy for many more years.

Surrounding yourself only with items that last and give content contributes to well-being. All items of a wardrobe should be chosen thoughtfully in harmony with function and aesthetics. Buy less, buy better.

Today, on the February 19, 2019 the iconic fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld died at the age of 85. Lagerfeld was Chanel’s creative director since 1983. When the German-born designer arrived at the fashion house 12 years after the death of Coco Chanel in 1971, he found himself in the midst of the so-called ‘Chanel’s dark ages’. In those years between her death and his succession, the fashion house did not manage to continue to create the timeless clothes and accessories modern women were seeking. It became a sleeping fashion house that was mainly known for its history and perfume.

From day one Kaiser Karl drew inspiration from Coco Chanel’s work. He updated the typical Chanel look (the tweed suit, pearl necklace, quilted bag and so on), but never changed its character and always kept her tradition of quality and craftsmanship alive. It started as a parttime job for Karl (16 hours a day) and under his hands Chanel grew into a multibillion-dollar fashion imperium with 8 collections every year.

Virginie Viard, Karl’s right hand since the 80s, has been appointed as the new creative director of Chanel. Let’s hope she, just like Karl, is able to embrace the present and invent the future with the history of the house.

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LCDP x KERN1 is a collaboration between two Netherlands based companies that found common ground in their belief of thoughtful dressing. Les Coyotes de Paris is an emerging design studio for womenswear that is characterised by re-invented iconic shapes, twisted into modern silhouettes. While KERN1 is an online store that focusses on collecting and selling authentic pre-owned Chanel jackets. Both brands were brought together in a story that express that well-designed clothes, with attention for cuts, fabric and quality, are made to last and easy to combine.

The Chanel jacket is a garment that was designed over 50 years ago and still is relevant in the modern world of fashion. The jackets are as wanted now, as when Coco Chanel introduced them. Her designs combine classic silhouettes with perfect tailoring and are completed in high-quality fabrics. The outcome is a timeless piece of clothing. LCDP works with the same core values, when designing for the modern woman, to create a purposeful wardrobe with items that are anything but disposable. A match was easily made between both brands that seek for a more thoughtful approach to everyday dressing. Unsurprisingly the clothes also perfectly blended into three exciting outfits. 

To ask the Belgian Lies Muys, owner of photography agency Initials LA, to model LCDP x KERN1 was a logical next step. Lies is a woman who knows which clothes suit her and what she feels comfortable in. By picking up a piece of clothing and looking at its shape, she knows if it will look good on her. She has been slowly building her wardrobe over the years with high-quality pieces that complement one another and work well in any combination.

Both LCDP and KERN1 relate to this way of dressing and focus on bringing clothes that withstand the test of time. Items that continuously please their wearers for many years to come.

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On December 4th at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York Chanel showed its annual Métiers d’Art collection. While most Chanel fashion shows are being held in Paris, the Métiers d’Art collection travels to different destinations around the world to be presented to the public in the most memorable and extravagant way. After Edinburgh, Salzburg, Dallas, Rome and Hamburg, NY was chosen as backdrop for the latest Métiers d’Art collection.

As Chanel brings multiple collections every year, that also go by different names, we are often asked the question what the difference is between them and how many there are exactly. This is the first article in a series that highlights and explains more about the Chanel collections.

The Métiers d’Art collection was introduced by the brand in 2002 to pay a yearly tribute to the eleven Parisian couture ateliers Chanel closely works with. To be able to make their garments and accessories with the highest level of craftsmanship they turn to Lesage for embroideries, the pleating is done by Maison Lagnon, the shoes come from Massaro. Desrues knows how to make the best fine jewlery and for hats Maison Michel is their go-to craftsman studio. The Métiers d’Art collection is all about bringing attention to their extraordinary handwork and showing the capabilities of these ateliers.

The Métiers d’Art collection is also known as Chanel’s pre-fall line, as it is being launched in the period that other fashion houses release their small-scale so-called pre-fall collections as a transition between the bigger Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter collections. Chanel shows usually about 60 looks for pre-fall. While their Ready to Wear Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter runway shows bring around 80 looks.

It is the second time Karl Lagerfeld chose New York as his pre-fall location. The first show was in their boutique on 57th Street in 2005. Looking forward to offer you a pre-owned Chanel Métiers D’Art 2018/2019 jacket in a while.

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Finding the right jacket, the one that fits you perfectly, makes your heart beat faster and matches your style, is a delicate process. Sometimes it is needed to see the jacket in real life, to try it on and feel the fabric, before understanding if it is the right match for you. That is why came up with a few ideas to make it possible to see, try and shop our jackets also offline (for our Netherlands based customers). We decided to team up with Salon Heleen Hulsmann, Amsterdam’s most beautiful store for pre-owned designer clothing, to create a KERN1 pop-up at her salon. From September 13 - 15 2018 a selection of the KERN1-collection was presented at the Amsterdam based shop.

Missed this event and would like to see a few specific jackets in real life before deciding to purchase? No problem! Contact us to make an appointment.

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Finding the right jacket, the one that fits you perfectly, makes your heart beat faster and matches your style, is a delicate process. Sometimes it is needed to see the jacket in real life, to try it on and feel the fabric, before understanding if it is the right match for you. That is why we invented the 'mobile fitting room'.

How does it work?

If you are located in the Netherlands or in Belgium. You can buy any jacket from our online store and get it personally delivered by Tami, KERN1's owner. All you need to do is choose for the 'personal delivery-option' at check out. We will make an appointment for delivery and you will be given the opportunity to try the jacket on to make sure it fits perfectly. If it does not? No problem. We will take the jacket back and refund you on the spot.  

The mobile fitting room will take place from September 24-28 in the Randstad in the Netherlands.

For any questions, feel free to PM on Instagram or contact us through store@kern-1.com.

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1. Construction

For effortless movement and easy tailoring the exterior and the interior of a Chanel jacket are constructed of multiple panels. The number of panels and seams inside the jacket should be the same as on the outside. The sleeves have a slight natural curve and are made of two pieces of fabric to make it comfortable to move in and suitable for daily life. As Coco said: “I’m a great admirer of the female race. I wanted to give women clothes that they could feel comfortable in, that they could drive in but that, at the same time, would emphasize their femininity." 

Because of the way they are constructed Chanel jackets can be easily sized up or down two sizes. Below the lining, at every seam there, is a bit of extra fabric that can be taken out to create more space if needed. The same goes for sizing the jacket down.

2. Fabric

Coco Chanel was known for her use of tweed, a supple and sophisticated fabric, which she discovered through wearing the clothes of one of her lovers, the Duke of Westminster. Originally tweed was made of pure wool, but today it can be mixed with a variety of fibers like silk, cashmere or alpaca. The iconic tweed and bouclé are still often used by Chanel for its classic jackets, but they present jackets in other fabrics as well. 

3. Buttons

One of the most outstanding characteristics of a Chanel jacket are its buttons. These small pieces of jewelry adorn the jacket at multiple places. 

Most of the time they are attached at center front for the jacket's fastening. Some jackets have a zip-closure or no fastening at all. If it does close with buttons, you will usually find three same-style buttons in a smaller version on the back of each sleeve. And when the jacket has pockets, a button will be attached to it. 

The buttons will either show a CC-logo, the brandname, or another Chanel signature like a Camélia flower or a lion's head. Nowadays, Chanel works with buttons that match the theme of the collection. For the Seoul Collection, for instance, the buttons of the jacket referred to the Korean flag. 

And as Mademoiselle would say: "Never a button without a buttonhole."

4. Trim

The trim (sometimes called braid) of a jacket makes you immediately understand if it is by Chanel or not. A Chanel jacket has a contrast or ton sur ton trim that follows the neckline, down the front and all around the pockets, cuffs and hemline to accentuate its silhouette. 

5. Pockets

Most Chanel jackets have four pockets, two breast pockets and two lower at the waist. These pockets were created for Mademoiselle’s own practical needs – one pocket to hold her lipstick, one for her scissors, one for her cigarettes etc. Sometimes a jacket will only have two pockets or none at all. 

6. Lining

For Coco Chanel it was important that a jacket is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, therefore most Chanel jackets are lined with luxurious pure silk. The color of the lining should match the color of the jacket's exterior and it often features interlocking CC-logo's, a Camélia flower pattern and sometimes other Chanel signatures like pearls, depending on the jacket's production year. When the label of the jacket has been cut off (sadly this happens regularly), the lining will learn you more about the era it comes from. Jackets made in the '90s for instance, are only marked with a large amount of tiny CC-logo's in the lining. Also, it does happen that a jacket has no print in the lining or even no lining at all because it is a light-weight summer jacket, or its interior is made of a different fabric, like wool. So do not be alarmed when your jacket has a different interior.

7. Chain

To weigh the jacket down and make it hang perfectly straight around the body at all time, Coco Chanel added a chain to the jacket's interior at the hem. Up till today, almost all jackets feature a chain that colorwise matches the jacket's buttons. If the buttons show gold-tone details, then the chain will be gold as well. If the buttons are metal-colored, the chain will be in the same style. 

8. Label

A Chanel jacket will always have a Chanel brand label sewn into its interior at center top. Over the decades the labels have changed. Make sure to check from which year your jacket originates to see if it matches the label used by Chanel at that time. 

Below the brand label, there should be a size and composition tag that contains other valuable information about the jacket. It will tell you where the jacket has been produced, that is almost always in France. Jackets made before 2010 will also show exactly the year and collection. Jackets from recent collections only contain the item's reference number. With this number you can contact the Chanel Boutique and they will be able to tell you from which collection the jacket is. Newer jackets will have another tag attached to the lining on the left side of the body. The information on this tag should correspond to the one in the neck. 

With vintage jackets it often occurs that the size- and composition tag has been cut off. the tags on these older models used to be quite big and to make wearing the jacket more comfortable, their owners used to take them off. 

As for the sizing on the label: Chanel works with European sizes. So it should mention a size in numbers, like 34-46 and not XS-XL. 

Disclaimer: some Chanel jackets will lack one or more of the mentioned features. That does not mean a jacket is not authentic. On the other hand, there are many counterfeit jackets on the market that look like authentic jackets. We do not guarantee, although a jacket has all the features that we described above, it is 100% authentic, as long as we did not check the item ourselves. The products for sale on this website have not been verified or authenticated by Chanel S.A.

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Once you made the decision to invest in a Chanel jacket, you want to ensure your dream item will last a lifetime and keeps its value, in case you ever want to resell.

There are a few things you can do to support your Chanel jacket and keep it in its best condition for many years to come. These 6 tips will help you to do exactly that.

Before we begin, keep in mind that Chanel jackets are made of premium fabrics and are meant to last. You can easily wear them without having to being afraid that they get damaged.

1. To keep your jacket fresh, hang it outside to air every once in a while, preferably in cloudy, damp weather and be careful for sun and rain. Does it have a smell you want to get rid of? Use a fabric refresher and spray it all over the jacket. Repeat multiple times if need till the smell disappears (an extra tip for customers from Holland: we always use Kruidvat's textielverfrisser). Never put your jacket in the laundry machine. 

2. If your jacket has a stain, send it out to a professional dry cleaner who has experience with Chanel jackets and who knows how to protect its buttons and embellishments in the cleaning process. We advise to have your jacket only dry cleaned if it is really needed.

3. Buttons are one of the most important features of Chanel jackets. A missing button decreases the beauty and the value of an item. To make sure these small pieces of art stay right where they belong, it is advised to check your buttons from time to time. If the thread comes loose, just securely attach it with a same color thread and the jacket is ready for another decade.

4. As years pass by the exterior of a Chanel jacket is often wonderfully kept. However, the condition of the silk lining, especially in light-colored jackets, is a different story. It may occur that vintage jackets show discoloration on one or multiple spots on the inside. To prevent your jacket against discoloration add antiperspirant pads on the inside of the jacket at arm height. It may not feel sexy, but it will keep your jacket fresh and stainless. 

5. Chanel jackets are constructed of multiple panels to optimize its shape and to make re-sizing easier. Over the years, you might notice that your clothing size changed and the jacket lost its perfect fit for your body. At Chanel boutiques it is possible to have your (vintage) jacket altered and sized-up or down by their skilled tailors to make it fit perfectly again. 

6. Your jacket will spend most of its life on a clothing hanger, so it is important to invest in a hanger that fits well at the shoulders and keeps the jacket in its natural shape. If you decide to store your jacket in a garment bag, go for a canvas bag rather than a plastic one, as the canvas ones don't trap moisture and give the fabric space to breath. 

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