Chanel – The Lady with the Camellias

In 1913, Parisian boutique owner Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was photographed on vacation in Normandy, wearing a large, loose knit over a long wool skirt—a warm, cozy outfit perfect for a seaside vacation. The photo was taken by the future couture designer’s then-lover and sponsor, a junior French nobleman named Etienne Balzan, and what stood out about her simple attire was a white and black camellia flower that she tied to her belt.

Three years earlier, in 1910, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel opened her famous boutique at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris (where it is still located today), and every lady who entered the boutique and purchased one of her unique designs received a box decorated with an embroidered camellia flower. Over the years, the white camellia flower became the symbol of the “Chanel” brand and the hallmark of the legendary fashion house. A symbol that not only continues to adorn the store’s packaging, but also stars in all of the brand’s fashion shows in the almost 100 years of its existence from 1910 to the present.

But why did Coco Chanel choose the camellia as her brand symbol? And what was the meaning of this flower in her own life?

Chanel – The Beginning

Gabrielle Chanel was born into abject poverty in August 1883 in the city of Somer to a laundress named Eugenie Devolle and a door-to-door salesman named Albert Chanel. At the age of 11, when her mother died and her father could no longer care for her, she was sent to be educated at a convent in the city of Aubazin, where she learned to sew and discovered a great talent for patternmaking and needlework. But like many teenage girls, Chanel also sought to rebel against convention, and at the age of 12 she came across a provocative and scandalous book called “Lady of the Camellias,” written in the 19th century and considered a sensual classic in early 20th-century France.

The novel, written by French author Alexandre Dumas, sr. (son of the famous Alexandre Dumas who brought the world “The Three Musketeers”), was published in 1848 and tells the story of a beautiful Parisian courtesan named Marguerite Gautier, who arrives at the opera house every evening wearing a white dress and holding a bouquet of white camellias. “Courtesan” in those days in Europe was a nickname for prestigious escort girls who provided their services to the richest men in society, and even to nobles and kings. And Marguerite in the book was described by the author as the most desirable courtesan in all of France.

The reason for the camellia flower was also unique to the period and hidden from view by many modern readers: until the 20th century, women and men from the educated classes in Europe could not flirt publicly, so they communicated using bouquets of flowers, each flower having its own meaning. This method is still called the “language of flowers” ​​and could be said to have been the “WhatsApp” of the upper classes before the development of modern technology.

The meaning of the camellia flower in the language of flowers was “love and devotion.” Therefore, when the character of the beautiful Marguerite walks among the wealthy opera patrons with her bouquet of camellias, she is essentially sending them a message that she is ready to “dedicate herself to love.” Another playful detail in the novel is the description that only four days out of the month, Marguerite would arrive at the opera house holding a bouquet of red camellias. And I will leave it to you to figure out for yourself what she was trying to say to the respectable men in the audience…

Chanel's true inspiration

About seventy years after the famous novel was published, when the girl Gabrielle Chanel reads it secretly in her convent, most readers already know that the character of the courtesan Marguerite Gautier is based on the real courtesan of the 19th century, and who was the real lover of the writer Alexandre Dumas the Younger - a beautiful black-haired girl named Marie Duplessis.

And so, Chanel falls in love not only with the literary character of the courtesan but also with the real Marie Duplessis. This is not surprising since Marie Duplessis and Coco Chanel share many similar characteristics in their difficult childhoods and rise to greatness.

Although the two divas were born about eighty years apart, just like Chanel, Marie Duplessis was born into abject poverty. Her father was a thief and a drunkard who abused her and her mother. And just like Chanel, Marie Duplessis was sent away from home at the age of 12 when her father could no longer care for her. However, unlike little Chanel who was cared for by kind-hearted nuns, Marie was sent to live with poor relatives who could offer her nothing more than a roof over her head.

Marie manages to escape to Paris at the age of 14, and within a few years she finds her way to survival as her magnificent beauty begins to develop and she begins to attract the attention of the most famous and richest men in all of Europe. Among them are the French Count Edouard de Perreau, the renowned Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, and of course, the writer Alexandre Dumas, who falls in love with her with boundless love.

But Marie also knew a thing or two about branding. Because then, as now, every celebrity who wants to stand out in their field must have a gimmick, so she starts wearing angelic-looking white dresses and makes sure to decorate the neckline of her dresses with a delicate white camellia flower to complete the look.

When her lover, the writer Dumas, first sees the makeover, he is so enamored with the flower she pinned to the lapel of her dress that he is inspired to write “Lady with the Camellias,” and thus the famous novel and literary character of Marguerite Gautier was born.

Unfortunately, the real Marie Duplessis died at the age of 23 from tuberculosis. But with the help of the writer in love, she becomes not only the ultimate tragic heroine of 19th century literature, but an inspiration for works of art for generations: her story became the inspiration for the opera “La Traviata” by the composer Verdi. In 1936, her story became the classic film “Camille” starring the diva Greta Garbo, and in 2001 she even became the inspiration for the film musical “Moulin Rouge” Starring Nicole Kidman.

The Camellia Legacy

As mentioned, Marie Duplessis, her literary character, and their camellia flower become objects of admiration for Coco Chanel.
As an adult, Chanel never forgot the scandalous novel she read secretly in a convent. When she opened her boutique in Paris in 1910, she decided that, like the historical Marie Duplessis, she would make the camellia her symbol.

After all, like Duplessis, she too began her journey with a difficult childhood and in deep poverty. She too made her way to Paris on her own, and she too rose to prominence through connections with wealthy and respected men, as many women were forced to do in the days before equal rights laws and the right to vote.

Chanel moves to old suburban workshop Paris called “Maison Lemerie” and asks them to produce white silk camellia flowers and embroidery for her new models. Maison Lemerie continues to produce handmade flowers for the various fashion houses in Paris to this day, with 40 of their models destined for Chanel alone every year!

The camellia becomes the hallmark of all of Chanel's fashion shows until her death in January 1971. The brand declines and faces financial and image difficulties, until a new artistic director is appointed in 1983 - a French fashion designer of German origin named Karl Lagerfeld.

Even after Lagerfeld's death and the appointment of his successor Virginie Viard as the new artistic director of the fashion house, she does not for a moment question the status of the famous flower, and continues to incorporate it into her dark and punk style, which is different from what we have seen so far, both in the days of Chanel herself and during Lagerfeld's tenure.

The Camellia in the TikTok Generation

Generation Z stars also continue to pay homage to Chanel’s classic designs adorned with the white flower. In 2023, Vogue magazine dedicated its annual fashion ball at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET Gala) to Chanel and Lagerfeld’s creations, and pop stars like Rihanna and Korean pop star Jennie arrived in black and white camellias from head to toe.

In 2024, young star Lily-Rose Depp—daughter of Johnny Depp and French icon Vanessa Paradis, and a Chanel house model in her own right—arrived at the premiere of her new series “The Idol” in Los Angeles wearing a classic Chanel little black dress adorned with a blue camellia. The dress itself first appeared in Chanel’s Fall/Winter 1994 show.

And in January 2025, at the Grammys, rising musician Gracie Abrams appeared on the red carpet wearing a white, veiled dress from Chanel's bridal collection with a white camellia at the neckline, looking eerily similar to Marie Duplessis as she was portrayed in a portrait sometime in 1844, perfect proof that the camellia's influence has not waned over the centuries.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, like her childhood literary heroine “Lady with the Camellias” and her true inspiration Marie Duplessis, found a symbol of strength, beauty, hope, and rebirth in a white, odorless, thornless flower. They clung to it as they transformed from poor, forgotten girls into the leaders of fashion and elegance of their time. They continue to pass it on to audiences around the world in every new Chanel show, every new cosmetic product, and every new piece of jewelry featuring the immortal flower.

Want to know more about Coco Chanel?

You are invited to order Ariella Garber's lecture "Chanel: The Lady and the Camellia" directly from the author on the website. www.Timeless-Hemlines.com

Want to travel through Paris in the footsteps of Coco Chanel? You are invited to read This article.

And finally, the full life story of the real Marie Duplessis can be read in the biography The Girl who Loved Camellias (2013) by American author Julie Kavanagh.