“Crusade for haute couture”: a Chanel collection of 252 pieces put up for auction in Paris

A blue-chip fashion story goes up for auction in Paris on Monday: 252 pieces of Chanel couture by the late designer Karl Lagerfeld.

All come from the wardrobe of real estate entrepreneur Mouna Ayoub, a French socialite of Lebanese origin who is said to own the largest couture collection in the world – more than 2,700 items.

Pieces up for auction We can cite a sequinned “ribbon” dress from the spring/summer 1991 collection which took 150 hours to make and an additional 250 hours to embroider, and a silk crepe dress with chains from the following year, identical to that worn by Penélope Cruz during the following year. Pedro Almodóvar films Broken Embraces. Both should cost between €12,000 and €15,000, but it was the latter, Ayoub said, that was the most difficult item to part with.

An evening This coat, embroidered for 800 hours to recall the lacquered screens of Coromandel, is the item that Ayoub has the fondest memory of wearing. “I wore it to a venue where Karl [Lagerfeld] was present,” she said. She wore it open “over a turtleneck and pants.” When Karl saw me he was so shocked and asked me how I could do that. I told him I had gained weight and couldn't keep it down. He then laughed and said, “Join the club.” It is estimated between €150,000 and €200,000.

Adept of sewing know-how, Ayoub