Photo’s by Arij Den Otter, Devastator








Vanessa Paradis, ph. Inez & Vinoodh , Vogue France
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Vanessa Chantal Paradis (born 22 December 1972) is a French singer-songwriter, musician, actress, model and since 1991 a spokesmen for Chanel.
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Vanessa Paradis is daughter to interior designers Corinne and André Paradis. She began to develop her singing career at age seven when her uncle, record producer Didier Pain, helped her appear on the local television program, a talent show for child singers.
She recorded her first single, “La Magie des surprises-parties”, in 1983 and performed it in an Italian festival in 1985. Although not a hit, it paved the way for the song with which she became internationally famous, “Joe le taxi“, in 1987 when she was 14. It was No. 1 in France for 11 weeks and, unusually for a song sung in French, was released in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 3. It was taken from her first album M&J (it stands for Marilyn & John).
In March 1989, at age 16, Paradis left high school to pursue her career.
She released the album Variations sur le même t’aime in 1990, containing a remake of the Lou Reed song “Walk on the Wild Side“. The album was written by acclaimed French composer Serge Gainsbourg, whom she met when she received the best singer award at Les Victoires de la Musique, on 4 February 1990. The same year, Paradis won the César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in Noce Blance.
In 1991, she promoted the fragrance Coco for Chanel. In the advertisement, she was covered in black feathers, portraying a bird swinging in a cage. The advert was shot by Jean-Paul Goude.
In 1992, Paradis moved to the United States to work with Lenny Kravitz, whom she also dated at the time. The new album was her first in English. Written and produced by Kravitz, the album, titled Vanessa Paradis, topped the French chart. One of the singles from it was “Be My Baby“, which made number 5 in France and gave her another Top 10 hit in the UK.
In March 1993, Paradis started her first international tour, the Natural High Tour. In April 1994, she filmed Élisa, under the direction of Jean Becker. Elisa was a big success in France, and was released internationally.
From 1997 on, she played in movies with the great French actors/actresses.
ph. by Karl Lagerfeld
In 2004, Paradis promoted Chanel’s new handbags called Ligne Cambon. The next year, she modeled for Chanel again for The New Mademoiselle handbag. In 2008, she modelled for Miu Miu.
Ph.Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Vogue Paris cover
ph. by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
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Paradis released a new album (Divinidylle) in 2007. She started the Divinidylle Tour in October. Paradis won two ‘Les Victoires de la Musique‘ awards for this album in February 2008.
Canadian film director Jean-Marc Vallée cast Paradis in a starring role in his film Café de Flore, in which she plays the single mother of a down syndrome child in the 1960s. She garnered a Genie Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2012 Genie Awards.
In 2010 she became the face of Chanel’s new lipstick, Rouge Coco. She also became the face of their new handbag line, Cocoon.
Paradise’s 2011 international tour included performances in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe and Turkey.
In May 2013, Vanessa Paradis released a new album, Love Songs. And this year she starred in the movie Yoga Hosers with her daughter Lily Rose (by ex-husband Johnny Depp), as a history teacher. She also was a member of the main competition jury of the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
ph. by Inez & Vinoohd
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info: wikipedia
Vanessa Paradis by Bruce Weber
To me the sexiest outfit for a man is a (preferably hand-knitted) woollen sweater and corduroy trousers. The most beautiful sweater of all is the gansey or guernsey, originally designed for fishermen.
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The Guernsey’s knitting industry can be dated back to the late 15th century when a royal grant was obtained to import wool from England and re-export knitted goods to Normandy and Spain.
The gansey came into being as a garment for fishermen who required a warm, hard-wearing, yet comfortable item of clothing that would resist the sea spray. Using a tightly spun 5-ply worsted wool (popularly known as “Seamen’s Iron”) the intricately patterned gansey is knitted in one piece on five steel needles. The patterning to back and front and, in some cases, the upper part of the sleeve provides an extra layer of protection, while the combination of seamless construction, fine wool and tight knitting produced a garment that is both wind and waterproof. Indeed, every part of the garment is designed with practicality in mind.
The gansey came into being as a garment for fishermen who required a warm, hard-wearing, yet comfortable item of clothing that would resist the sea spray. Using a tightly spun 5-ply worsted wool (popularly known as “Seamen’s Iron”) the intricately patterned gansey is knitted in one piece on five steel needles. The patterning to back and front and, in some cases, the upper part of the sleeve provides an extra layer of protection, while the combination of seamless construction, fine wool and tight knitting produced a garment that is both wind and waterproof. Indeed, every part of the garment is designed with practicality in mind.
The wool is knitted tightly so as to “turn water”; the lack of seams ensures greater strength and impermeability; the underarm gusset allows freedom of movement; the lower sleeves where most wear is sustained, are left plain so the worn part can be unravelled and re-knitted, while the patterning across the chest provides extra insulation. Note that the patterning is the same, back and front. This means that the gansey is reversible, so that areas which come in for heavier wear, such as the elbows, can be alternated. They were traditionally knitted by the fishermen’s wives and the pattern passed down from mother to daughter through the generations.
Through trade links established in the 17th century, the gansey found favour with seafarers around the British Isles, and many coastal communities developed their own “ganseys” based on the original pattern. Whilst the classic gansey pattern remained plain, the stitch patterns used became more complex the further north the garment spread, with the most complex evolving in the Scottish fishing villages. The knitting patterns were important to be able to identify men after a ship had sunk…..
It’s arguable that the use and wearing of ganseys throughout the British Isles for over a century and a half almost justifies the gansey for qualification as a national costume.
Typical gansey worn by east coat Britain fishermen
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Two styles of Gansey exist: a plain “working” gansey and a “finer” example that was generally saved for special occasions and Sunday-best attire. The “working” gansey design was kept simpler in order to reduce the amount of time and materials needed to produce. The sale of knitted garments to supplement family income was important to many island families and thus the garments that were sold were also of a simple design. It is estimated that a total of 84 hours was needed to complete a gansey: a simpler design could be produced faster than a more elaborate one.
The gansey that is still produced on the island retains much of the original design and patterns. The rib at the top of the sleeve is said to represent a sailing ship’s rope ladder in the rigging, the raised seam across the shoulder a rope, and the garter stitch panel waves breaking upon the beach. As a working garment, the gussets under the arm and at the neck are for ease of movement, as are the splits at the hem. Twenty-four principal patterns have been identified in Cornwall alone, each one again drawing inspiration from ropes, chains, waves, nets and sand-prints.
Dutch ganseys with different knitting patterns
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Worn as a source of pride and often knitted by prospective wives “to show the industrious nature of the woman he was about to marry”, the “finer” gansey was more elaborately patterned than its working cousin.
The gansey’s tightly knitted fibres and its square shape, with a straight neck so that it could be reversed, make it a particularly hardy item of clothing. It is not uncommon for a gansey to last several decades and be passed down in families. Guernseys knitted for children were knitted to be “grown into” and often came down to the knee.
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In the Netherlands all fishing-villages had their own knitting pattern for ganseys.
Gansey from Dutch village Katwijk
VISSERS TRUIEN
A Dutch book about ganseys with 60 knitting patterns
To order for € 24,95 at : http://www.forteuitgevers.nl/boek/visserstruien
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a traditional gansey, hand-knitted in one piece
http://www.flamboroughmanor.co.uk/flamboroughmarine/
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