Who Gives Away Chanel?!

It’s almost a throw-away line spoken in passing by the fictional Amari Mari, Miranda Priestly’s stunningly chic assistant, played flawlessly by Simone Ashley, in the recently released film « The Devil Wear Prada 2. » Twenty years after the original version’s film debut featuring Meryl Streep, Ann Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, the return to the New York City-based Runway magazine picks up their shared stories in the current atmosphere of whiplash-fast technology, shortened attention spans, and in a myriad of cultural influences on clothing, accessories and lifestyles. The movie is still about fashion, about top designers and models in a highly competitive arena, about star quality and its ephemeral essence, but there’s a deeper current that underlies the glittering surface. It’s about one of the time-honored pillars of human rights: free speech through objective and thorough journalism. Equally important — the irreplaceable contributions of human innovation and creation in all art forms.

The movie sequel (DWP2) weaves together the lives of established friends and colleagues— Runway Editor in Chief Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep: her gifted and chronically underappreciated corporal, Nigel Kipling (nod to the great Stanley Tucci); Ann Hathaway as the now seasoned newspaper reporter Andy Sachs; along with Tracie Thoms as art gallery owner Lily and bestie of Andy; and the incomparable Emily Blunt as the archly self-serving Emily Charlton. Along with this group there are new competitors, hopeful friends and adversaries. After seeing the movie twice (yes, I’ll admit it…) several take-aways stand out for me. Some things are just true. Case in point— in the movie’s opening scenes Ann Hathaway’s character Andy Sachs wins a journalism award at the same moment she learns that she and the entire staff she works with have been fired. Her acceptance speech pretty much boiled down to : « Journalism STILL MATTERS! EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE EXPLETIVE!! » (My sentiments exactly, Andy…)

See the movie— I won’t spoil it for you, but I will say that as the « true believer, » Andy Sachs finds her way back to where this story all began twenty years ago— at Runway magazine with Miranda, Emily, Nigel and the oh-so-chic gang. Turns out, Andy’s fierce adherence to the time-honored standards of journalism mesh with what Runway really is all about— human hearts, minds and hands creating something beautiful, and hopefully lasting.

So circling back to why I started this diatribe/blog, who does give away Chanel? Who gives away an item esteemed by many as one of the truly iconic wardrobe pieces of the 20th and 21st centuries? One of our style-savvy Cinq Femmes team members, retail fashion expert Margaret Russo, reminded me of that question just the other day in a conversation about timeless heirloom-quality collectibles. As it turns out, my Marg asked to borrow one of my necklaces to wear to an upcoming event. The necklace in question IS Chanel— white pearls, with the ubiquitous camellia motif encrusted with tiny faux diamonds on a long gold chain. It’s versatile: you could double it or leave it long and wear it with other strands of pearls. I’ve done both. The back story is this: about 18 years ago during a « retail therapy » trip to New Orleans, I spotted the necklace in the Chanel boutique at Saks Fifth Avenue on Canal Street and it « called my name. » (Some things just do that, right, fashionistas?!) Let me just say that I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it thanks to my own use and to my self-appointed role as « stylist » to my girls and my best friend. In fact, it was through my bestie that I remembered where it finally landed and was able to retrieve it for my Margaret Russo. I had given it to my best friend to wear with whatever outfit to whatever event. All good and fine, yet when I first laid eyes on it again after a five-year hiatus from my rotation, I was not pleased with what I saw. The pearls were a bit yellowed, and the gold chain looked a little tarnished. It was just not as glossy and pristine as I remembered it. Thanks to my Marg, my Cinq Femmes sensibility and inspiration, I polished the necklace, I refurbished it, and I embraced it with all its age-related changes. Some things are always of value, no matter what.

The incomparable William Shakespeare is probably rolling over in his grave or moaning in dismay, but to borrow from The Immortal Bard « Here’s the rub »—journalism does matter to me, and it always will, and so do well-rendered designs and bold displays of creativity and wearable art, including fashion. Because lasting fashion is in fact, wearable art. It’s art that I’m not ashamed to say I cherish and with which I find a sense of myself and of well-being. « Who gives away Chanel?! » Who, indeed?!