My mother

It is early 2018, I live abroad and tell my mother about my plan to create an online store dedicated to vintage Chanel jackets. As always when I share my ideas with her, she is supportive and encourages me to go for it. She accepts to store my growing stock of jackets in her home. Besides that it is my own project, as my mother still worked as a lawyer at that time.

I fly back to The Netherlands several times that year to picture the jackets and set up some projects for the launch of KERN1. In June, when the online store aired and I sold my first jackets, I asked my mom to wrap the jackets and send them to the buyers. She agreed, and then it all started.

I recently asked her how she looked back on those four years. The years in which we built KERN1 and worked together every day, the years in which she selflessly put countless hours in my dream project, to help me succeed. I will forever hold this period close to my heart. It had to be documented, captured in words and on camera, all that she does. To honor her, and to show you.

The conversation between me and my mother

What are your first KERN1 memories?

You asked me to send the first jackets you sold to your clients, and I felt responsible to create the perfect parcel so that the buyers would be satisfied with their purchase. I remember trying to figure out the best way to fold the tissue paper you provided, and created my own system for that. For a while you also wanted me to produce polaroid photos of each jacket to add to the package. And of course there were some more actions to be done before the deadline, the ring of the mailman. Thinking back of those days, it was sometimes a bit much to manage all of this, but I never told you that.

Also, in the early days of KERN1 you used to meet up with clients, who liked to try on and compare multiple jackets. When you were abroad, I used to do these meetings instead. Since you didn’t have an office yet, I would go to the client’s house, see them in a restaurant, and I even met one just on the street. It could be any place where the customers could see themselves in a mirror or a window. Very ‘improvised’ and fun.

How did it evolve from this, to all the things you do nowadays to improve the condition of the jackets?

I started to notice small flaws on some of the jackets, although you did your best to purchase and sell only items that were hardly worn and kept with care by their previous owners. But since they are all second-hand and often many decades old, it is inevitable that you can see some signs of wear.

When I was a girl, my mother taught me to sew buttons on a shirt and how to sew a hem. That was about all the knowledge I had of repairing clothes. Actually this knowledge came in handy, because in the course of time buttons happen to fall off vintage Chanel jackets and have been re-sewed one or more times, often in a messy way. And since the buttons on a Chanel jacket are so eye-catching and contribute to the beauty of the jacket, I started to improve the jackets by re-sewing the buttons. I took each jacket to the drapery-shop in town to find the perfect thread color, that matched the fabric, and sewed the buttons back the way I was taught.

Very soon I discovered that Chanel had a special way of attaching buttons. I decided to study each jacket that came in, to understand the technique, which among other things seemed to be related to the thickness of the fabric and the weight of the jacket. Most buttons are attached with a ‘stem’ to stick out above the fabric as not to put too much pressure on the outer fabric and the button hole. Once I figured that out, I practiced this.

To do it right, you have to figure out where the buttons were meant to be originally. This process consists of a few steps and you really need a tape measure to do that. It is best to start from the bottom. You know of course that I couldn’t do all of this without my essential tools: the little Tweezerman scissors and tweezers.

What are the most common problems you work on besides the buttons?

Pilling of the fabric, loose seams/chains/shoulder pads, damaged buttonholes, stains, smell, etcetera.

Do you remember which jacket was the most difficult to repair?

Yes, a very special one, the one you used for the project ‘A Chanel jacket looks good on everybody’ about two years ago. The stitching of the lining was a mess, and the trim of the exterior fabric had to be reattached. Furthermore the jacket looked great, I love that soft shaded fabric, and it had the most beautiful buttons. Therefore I decided to invest time, to reattach the whole lining and trim by hand, and to put all the buttons on the right place of course. It took a few months. Coincidently we just got in the same jacket, luckily this one is in better condition.

Recently you also got in a pastel yellow suit with multicolored highlights from the 1994 spring collection, of which the skirt was not in good shape. Again, the outside looked flawless. The interior was the problem. All seams were stretched, especially of the skirt, and I didn’t know how to fix it.

It happens to me quite often, that I come across an issue I don’t immediately know how to solve. I just start, and slowly the strategy unfolds. It always works like that. For example the first time I had to repair a chain at the bottom of the lining, which was partly detached, I had no clue. Then I found out the chain has to be sewn into a specific direction, to make the thread hardly visible.

With this yellow skirt I started by detaching the zipper from the lining, so that the lining was only attached to the exterior fabric at the waist. Then I took it to a professional tailor to have the side seams done with the sewing machine. Later I fixed the zipper and the loose hem. In the end not only the jacket, but also the skirt was presentable.

What do you enjoy most about this work?

The unboxing of a new jacket is always a very enjoyable moment. I never know what jacket you purchased, so it is a complete surprise for me. Then I start inspecting the new arrival in daylight, make pictures for you and consider what I can do to make it even more beautiful. I feel free to decide on the strategy and consider each jacket as a new project. When I see the end result, it always makes me happy. I constantly figure out new ways to improve the jackets and gain new skills.

But what I really enjoy most, is to work together with you and to see how you are building KERN1.

PHOTOGRAPHY. ELIZA ZARAH GOEDHART