Chantal Thomass
The Iconic Chantal Thomass
Even the woman herself has an iconic appearance. Chantal Thomass is known for her dark square-cut fringed hair, her red lipstick, and her entirely black clothing with strategic touches of white here and there. This somewhat eccentric mode of appearance may be one of the signs of her genius, however. This French designer’s collections are sold in stores around the world in some of the best boutiques and fashion shows around the world.
Just the Average Girl from Paris
There was nothing especially remarkable about Chantal Thomass, if one were to look at her early life from the outside. She was born to an ordinary middle-class family in the Paris area, their only daughter. Her mother made dresses, while her father was an engineer. The young girl found herself fascinated in her mother’s craft, and grew to love the idea of designing her own clothing. When she was still a child, she took her parochial school uniform and redesigned it to her own tastes. It wouldn’t be until the late 1960s that she was ready to create her own fashions professionally.
Chantal Thomass’s first ready-to-wear brand was not the eventual Chantal Thomass brand, but Ter et Bantine. Instead of using the fabrics everyone else used in their designs, Chantal stepped outside the box and used other options, including flannelette, Lurex mech, and wax clothing. Her decidedly unconventional fashion sense attracted celebrity attention, including the French superstar, Brigette Bardot.
Thomass’s speciality was lingerie, once she opened a brand in her own name in 1975. Chantal Thomass lingerie was something entirely new in women’s undergarments. Instead of solid, concealing fabric, she went with thin, gauzy, lacy materials, retaining a sense of veiled mystery, while still revealing the shape of the woman’s body. It was her aim for women to express, rather than conceal, their sexuality through their clothing. With her lingerie, a woman could wear something luxurious, anywhere, no matter what they wore over it.
The first Chantal Thomass boutique was opened in 1976, the same year as the first fashion show in her own name. The store was opened in her native Paris, specializing in hosiery and lingerie, but their inventory expanded as time went on. During the 1980s, they began to sell furniture, stationary, and carpets. In the late 1990s, the brand was sold to another concern, who began to offer umbrellas and glasses. Fragrances did not come until 2002, the first one named after the brand and the woman, Chantal Thomass.
Chantal Thomass Fragrances
The fragrance Chantal Thomass fit the designs made by its namesake – there is something brightly passionate about it. The scent is very much feminine, and perhaps a little scandalous. It begins with intensely sweet fruity notes from cranberry, apple, and cranberry, with a floral heart of heliotrope, orange blossom, red pepper, patchouli, and iris. The drydown is composed of amber, sandalwood, and msuk.
Ame Coquine is a 2004 scent. It is sexy and sensuous, sweet and wild. It contains notes of freesia, moss, sandalwood, mandarin, black currant, amber, lotus, and peony.
Chantal Thomass Eau de Toilette was launched in 2010. As with her other fragrances, it is meant to be both feminine and sexy, a good compliment to their lingerie. It is gentle, yet powerful, soft and strong, seductively thrilling. It starts with bright and fruity notes of grapefruit, black currant, and rhubarb, surrounding a heart of ginger aphrodisiac for a spicy tone. Musk, ambergris, and cedar form the base to give it classic sensuality. Even the package is provocatively elegant, with a pink bottle curved like the form of a woman, wrapped gently in a lace garter.
An Expanding Brand
While many things are sold under the Chantal Thomass brand, its focus remains those things which stay close to the skin of a woman – fragrances, undergarments, and beachwear. In 2009, the brand turned to a new closely worn product: makeup, created in partnership with Nivea.
Continuing to make themselves relevant, the brand also creates protective shells for iPhones and similar devices. The brand is well-poised to go on into a future just as successful as its past. Chantal Thomass can already be found in 18 countries around the world, with its collections still being shown in major fashion shows and in a great many boutiques. Chantal Thomass means to bring a little luxury to every woman they can, and they are well on their way to accomplishing that goal.