Coco Avant Chanel

The summer blockbuster season is almost over (anxious to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Monday) but there are two non-blockbuster films that I am very excited to see. One of them is the documentary The September Issue, about the making of Vogue's very popular September issue, and the second is the french film Coco Avant Chanel, starring the lovely Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.

Vogue UK released a few images from the film and talked to the costumer designer, Catherine Leterrier. This is what she had to say:

"The relationship with the House of Chanel was excellent," Leterrier told VOGUE.COM of the filming. "I was completely free designing exactly what I wanted for our film which takes place before Chanel created her 'maison de couture'. She started as a milliner. She became successful creating hats."

"The research process was the same as for any other period film," Leterrier explained. "We did research from real garments - in museums, flea markets, vintage shops or private collections - and research from painting and photos. For the show of the end we used authentic outfits from the Chanel Conservatory and Audrey Tautou wore a Chanel suit inspired by 'Mademoiselle' in the Sixties."

My first impression of Chanel's costumes was a bit underwhelming; the colour scheme is very dark (grey, black, navy) and monochromatic but the tailoring, the details and the fit are exquisite. They perfectly capture Chanel's free-spirit and her transformation as a designer.

The photos show her in the popular Chanel suit, complete with pearls and a wonderful dark loose suit with a wide white collar and brooch.

Although the photos don't show whether we will see any more flamboyant costumes à la Lagerfeld (to see if Karl approves the wardrobe click here,) I am looking forward to seeing these subtle, beautiful clothes.

Click here to watch the trailer.