The Ribbon by Chanel

Made famous by Coco Chanel in the 50s, the skirt suit knew its first successes in a tweed version braided with ribbons; these timeless little trimmings in contrasting colors were a Chanel signature that would become an often-copied iconic classic as well. Madame Pouzieux and Coco Chanel shared a passion for horse-riding, as well as the same disdain for artificialness and false pretenders. “It’s a matter of principle; I always invent. I don’t do anything that already exists. I dedicate myself to that which is unique. I’ve even been known to totally deconstruct a Chanel fabric to remake it as a ribbon.” “The only limits are the ones you set for yourself.”

She set aside a small workshop above her stables. “At the end of the war, one of my parents’ customers told me: ‘Why don’t you make ribbons, these days no one makes them anymore.” Self-taught, free, and inventive, each brocaded ribbon and braid that she created was a truly unique piece, like a work of art. This expert first began embroidered craftmaking with the help of her brother, creating her own techniques, braiding silk threads and cotton with an unequalled virtuosity and inventiveness. She worked with threads of wool, cotton, and other more noble materials such as gold, silver, or pure silk. More than 12 embroidered crafts, of every style and age, coexisted with fabric clippings, balls of yarn, strings of thread and buttons. She was a true artist, crafting lace like a work of art since 1947.

Her unique techniques made for inimitable ribbons. Madame Pouzieux knew Mademoiselle Chanel as Coco; the two are no doubt reunited somewhere now as the lady of lacemaking has passed. And yet the ribbon will forever remain the emblem of the Chanel suit, the proof of its excellence with this dynamic duo of one-of-a-kind women. “It was exactly this inventiveness and willingness to never do what someone else had already done” that forged Raymonde Pouzieux’s renown among her couturiers. As she put it “with a machine, the pieces will never have the same texture, the same finesse as when they are handmade”; her secret still remains well kept to this day.