KITMIR (English version)

The book tells the story of the Kitmir workshop and the unprecedented collaboration between Gabrielle Chanel and Grand Duchess Marie of Russia, for the creation of an embroidery workshop. Cousin of the Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, sister of Grand Duke Dimitri, Grand Duchess Marie Pavlovna fled Russia in 1918 with her husband Prince Putyatin, found refuge at the court of Romania, then settled in London where she began her sewing and embroidery activities. But it was in Paris that she settled permanently in 1920. Russian emigrants who have used needlework since their earliest childhood found in the work of embroiderers a source of income that allowed them to start a new life in Paris. In the fall of 1921, the Grand Duchess met Mademoiselle Chanel. Based on rue Cambon, she is already world-famous, but is looking for new inspiration for her creations and finds in Marie, a precious ally. She signed an exclusive contract with the house for the creation and supply of embroidery for seasonal collections and founded the Kitmir company in 1922. The same year Chanel launched its Russian collection in which we discover traditional clothing : pea coat, pelisse and rubashka. Kitmir embroideries are distinguished by their imagination and fantasy, inspired by the Slavic world but also by Persia, China and Egypt in an exotic and cosmopolitan spirit specific to the era. Few garments embroidered by the Kitmir workshop have reached us. Some are kept in the Chanel archives, others are at the Metropolitan in New York, and at the Kyoto Costume Institute. We can trace the journey of Grand Duchess Marie and her dialogue with Mademoiselle Chanel through part of her production between 1921 and 1928. Around a hundred samples, carefully preserved and until now never published since the closure of the workshop in 1929, are also presented in this work, the first dedicated to the Kitmir workshop which thus gives the Grand Duchess Marie the place that she deserves in the history of fashion. The subject of such a book is completely new and should appeal to specialists in 20th century fashion but also reach a wider audience. Stylist and embroidery specialist, Nadia Albertini conducted in-depth research on the Kitmir workshop with the collaboration of Sophie Kurkdjian, fashion historian and researcher.