Her originality
hit on one emblem, the camellia, which in
her hands became a necklace, a watch, a hat,
a chignon, a detail on a button, or just a
silk flower pinned to a dress. There was
something radically simple about its shape,
perhaps its
perfect, almost geometric roundness.
Every season it appears as a jeweled
monogram on a toe or beaded outline on the
heel of a Chanel shoe. Like the lotus in
Buddhism, the camellia expressed for Chanel
a shape with infinite possibilities.