Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele: CHANEL Tweed with Denim, Wit and Polish | UK

Who is Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele? A French editor with an instinct for high and low

Carlyne grew up near Saint-Tropez in southern France, worked for French ELLE for about a decade and moved to New York in 1985.

She went on to work at American Vogue with photographers including Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and Steven Meisel.

In the Saint-Tropez she knew, haute couture could comfortably coexist with jeans and T-shirts.

That experience informed her belief that chic lies in personal combination, not in assembling an inventory of expensive labels.

How couture and Guess jeans transformed an American Vogue cover

Carlyne’s name is inseparable from the November 1988 issue of American Vogue.

It was Anna Wintour’s first cover as editor-in-chief. Model Michaela Bercu wore a Christian Lacroix haute couture item with faded Guess jeans.

Peter Lindbergh took the photograph and Carlyne created the styling.

The couture item was not CHANEL. Even so, the decision to set elaborate couture against worn denim prefigures the liberty of her later CHANEL looks.

The model stood outdoors with windblown hair and an unforced expression. Luxury fashion appeared animated, immediate and connected to life.

Karl Lagerfeld, Carlyne and the irreverent polish of 1990s CHANEL

Vogue credits Carlyne with an important role in the image Karl Lagerfeld forged for CHANEL during the 1990s.

At fittings and runway rehearsals she offered direct opinions, acting as a friend and, on occasion, a creative counterpart.

On Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and other supermodels, tweed jackets, short skirts and layered gold chains had both precision and swagger.

The familiar CHANEL vocabulary remained intact, while youth, humour and speed shifted its tone. The styling embraced expression and movement as part of the clothes’ meaning.

Carlyne has also lived with couture jackets, quilted bags and costume jewellery given by Karl, wearing them with sporty trousers and relaxed separates.

In 2019 she photographed Claudia Schiffer, Amanda Harlech, Élodie Bouchez, Amanda Sanchez and herself in vintage CHANEL linked to Karl.

Rather than freezing the garments in history, the portraits show them continuing through memory and individual style.

Carlyne’s Instagram world: CHANEL, vintage photographs and fearless jewellery

CHANEL, vintage editorials, supermodels, denim and leopard print run through Carlyne’s Instagram.

Her exuberant language completes the picture: fashion is treated as a source of delight, not a set of solemn instructions.

Four ways to give a CHANEL tweed jacket ease without losing polish

Set precise tweed against uncomplicated denim

A beautifully constructed jacket becomes more visible, not less, when the jeans are straightforward.

There is no need to make the top and footwear equally formal; one relaxed element can sharpen the tailoring by contrast.

Let chains and CC buttons contribute to the rhythm

Carlyne uses jewellery as a visible part of the silhouette.

If the jacket already has pronounced CC buttons, consider them one of the accessories. Additional necklaces or bracelets feel more coherent when their tones lean predominantly gold or silver.

Use a T-shirt and trainers to change the setting

CHANEL tweed need not wait for a ceremony or a formal dinner.

A plain T-shirt, straight trousers and simple trainers allow the texture and line of the jacket to work in an everyday wardrobe.

Dress the individual rather than a passing trend

Carlyne has said she creates a story from the woman before her instead of imposing an identical outfit on everybody.

A shorter jacket and clean bottom half may suit a petite wearer; vivid pink or red tweed may flatter someone energised by colour. The useful guide is the face, character and proportion of the wearer.