CHANEL 96A: Stella Tennant & Karl Lagerfeld’s Military Tweed【1996 FW】 | INTL

CHANEL 1996 Fall/Winter (96A) is a study in contrasts understood across wardrobes: military restraint beside jewel-like colour, and elongated tailoring beside the movement of the body. Karl Lagerfeld’s jackets and coats use black, brown, olive and beige, lifted by gold and coloured glass.

Karl photographed British model Stella Tennant at Tadao Ando’s Meditation Space in UNESCO Headquarters, Paris. The meeting of clothing, face and architecture gives the campaign a quiet intensity that distils the collection’s global appeal.

CHANEL 96A Military Tweed: Karl Lagerfeld’s Jackets and Coats

High collars, double-breasted closures, ordered buttons and long straight silhouettes form the military foundation of 96A. The references are clear, yet the clothes never become reproductions of uniform.

Black jackets narrow at the waist; brown and olive run through tweed; houndstooth is extended into a long coat. Vertical structure is balanced by curves and skirts, turning the discipline of military dress into a flexible CHANEL language.

Military order meets the glow of jewellery.
Structure and radiance define CHANEL 96A.

Runway footage makes the proportions legible: the full length of jackets and coats, movement through the hem, and buttons creating a steady visual beat.

Gripoix Glass Gives CHANEL Tweed Its Jewel-Like Colour

Buttons, belts and jewellery provide a counterpoint to hard military lines. Decorative elements in 96A recall molten coloured glass poured into moulds, producing deep colour, rounded form and slight variation rather than the crisp transparency of a cut stone.

Gripoix, founded in Paris in 1869, is closely associated with this technique. The Metropolitan Museum of Art identifies it as one of the houses to collaborate early and often with CHANEL. Its freedom of colour and shape suited Gabrielle Chanel’s expressive costume jewellery.

Rows of buttons lengthen the front, buckles define the waist, and earrings or necklaces register brightly against black. Military tailoring and jewellery become mutually reinforcing parts of one design.

Gripoix
The Story of Jeweled Buttons

Stella Tennant’s CHANEL 96A Advertising Debut

Stella Tennant fronted the 1996 Fall/Winter campaign photographed by Karl Lagerfeld. Women’s Wear Daily reported in May 1996 that Karl had selected Stella for around 30 black-and-white photographs at UNESCO Headquarters. Her cropped hair and androgynous presence sharpened the collection’s military mood.

CHANEL ARCHIVES identifies 96A as Stella’s first advertising campaign for the house. She reappeared periodically from Spring/Summer 1997 through Cruise 2017, with nine campaigns recorded in total.

Stella Tennant in a beige CHANEL look for the 1996 Fall Winter 96A campaign

Stella Tennant in a yellow CHANEL jacket for the 1996 Fall Winter 96A campaign

Stella Tennant in a neutral CHANEL look for the 1996 Fall Winter 96A campaign

Stella Tennant in a light CHANEL jacket for the 1996 Fall Winter 96A campaign

Tadao Ando’s Meditation Space as the CHANEL 96A Setting

The campaign was photographed at the Meditation Space within UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Japanese architect Tadao Ando completed the exposed-concrete cylinder in 1995 for UNESCO’s 50th anniversary. Restricted openings shape the incoming light and quieten the interior.

The floor uses granite exposed to the Hiroshima atomic bombing and later decontaminated. The space was designed for reflection on peace across racial and religious boundaries.

This article found no official CHANEL explanation confirming an intentional contrast between military clothing and peace-oriented architecture. Visually, however, the abstract concrete makes the collection’s straight tailoring, reflective metal and glass, and Stella’s profile exceptionally clear.

UNESCO says the Paris Headquarters, including the Meditation Space, is accessible through guided tours reserved in advance.

A Contemporary Approach to CHANEL 96A Jackets and Coats

The embellishment is rich, but the foundation is precise. Let the buttons remain central: combine black with slim trousers or a straight skirt, and brown or olive tweed with an unpatterned layer. This keeps the 1990s strength while allowing the jacket to enter different modern wardrobes.

Coloured glass or large gold buttons can carry the look without added necklaces. Closed, the jacket reads as disciplined; open, it feels lighter. Elongated proportion and unmistakable details keep 96A visually exact nearly three decades later.