THERESE CHARDIN: THE WOMAN WHO SET WOMEN'S HEAD FREE IS GONE

THE WOMAN WHO CREATED "BOHO CHIC" HAIR AND BROUGHT FREEDOM TO WOMEN’S HEAD IS GONE.

Ten years after Melka Tréanton’s death, and one month after Nicole Crassat's passing, Fashion has once again lost one of its greatest influencers: the only hairstylist from the 1960s and 1970s Vogue Paris chose to mention in their retrospective book "Vogue en Beauté".

The French hairstylist Thérèse Chardin, credited  for creating the iconic boho-chic hairdo that became a worldwide trend in the seventies, has passed away. 

Independent and entrepreneurial, Thérèse Chardin had decided to shake off conventions and break apart rigid, established hairstyles that had been deemed appropriate for women. Blurry, foamy hair would become her signature. Her salon on the champs-elysées is a hit.

Her insolence brought her the attention of the fashion press, Marie Claire, Elle, Vogue. Already well known in France, the hairstyles she created for the 1964 chloé runway collection brought her global recognition; free women now had a signature look: blury, unstructured hairdos that mirrored the revolution society was undergoing.  L'oréal started to run print commercials using her name.

After successfully lauching a line of wigs, Thérèse Chardin decided to push another boundary. 5 years after France had ended its decolonisation wars, she offered white, upper class people blonde or brunette afro-wigs called "nigerians", long before Madonna. It caused uproar and was too taboo for some fashion magazines that decided not feature the wigs in their editorials.

Building up on her previous successes, she launched a fashion accessory line, followed by a jewerly line, and opened a boutique within Le Printemps department store. 

Exhausted from work, she called it quit in the early seventies, going back to Art school. She started working again in the late 80’s, mostly with her best friend Melka Tréanton in New York, where she championed the “Punk look” within women’s magazines.

Her work and influence were recently mentionned in the following publications:

NICOLE CRASSAT IS GONE / DEATH - DECES DE NICOLE CRASSAT

Fashion has brutally lost another of its grande dame, the renowed stylist Nicole Crassat. 

Nicole was the editor and chief of Elle in the eighties, when the magazine's authority over fashion well exceeded that of Vogue. She has helped launch Jean-Paul Gaultier's and Azzedine Alaïa's careers, along with other top editors, namely Catherine Lardeur, Claude Brouet and Melka Tréanton. She then became a prominent Editor at Large for Elle US in the 90's. 


When it came to styling, whether one was appreciative of her work or not, no one in the industry would deny Nicole's outstanding qualities: talent, and a real style. Her creativity and rare ability to style even the most inexpensive Fashion had earned her the profund respect of her peers.

Although retired, Nicole's passion for "La fashion" remained uncorrupted, still attending Fashion week and especially Alaïa's presentations. Amongst the new designers, Nicole was appreciative of Rick Owen and Riccardo Tisci's work. 


No longer than three weeks ago, Elle photographed her as part of an article on Carine Roitfeld, who described her in her book as a "great, talented stylist". 


UPDATE
WWD on Nicole Crassat
La chambre syndicale de la couture annonce le décès de Madame Nicole Crassat et le lieu des obsèques:
Les obsèques auront lieu vendredi 13 janvier 2012, à 14h45, au Crématorium du Père Lachaise, 71 rue des Rondeaux, Paris 20e.
Chambre syndicale de la couture annonce
Vogue.co.uk has also shared the news  http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs
Valérie Toranian (ELLE) on twitter "Nicole Crassat rédactrice de mode géniale, belle, inspirée. Elle n'est plus. ELLE lui doit tant. Tristesse et gratitude forever."
Yaël Abrot (Elle) "ELLE et le monde de la Mode pleurent NICOLE CRASSAT"
JC de Castelbajac; http://twitter.com/#!/jcdecastelbajac/status/156078166883049472/photo/1

THERESE CHARDIN: A LEGENDARY HAIRSTYLIST

Crowd Magazine obviously has close ties with the legendary hairstylist Thérèse Chardin....An exceptionnal contributor who notably styled the hair of our "Iconic Parisian" editorial (direct link to Iconic Parisian editorial).

Thérèse Chardin is one of the most celebrated hair stylist of the 60's and 70's. After working as a model, she opened the salon on the Champs-Elysées in Paris where she welcomed stars and royalties such as Grace Kelly.

She also styled hair for fashion shows with her team, and worked for Vogue, Elle, Marie-Claire...with top photographers such as Guy Bourdin, Sacha, Helmut Newton, Bob Richardson, etc. L'Oréal ran commercials using her name before using actresses. All of this brought her a lot of attention, which she used to launch a wig, an accessory, and a jewelry line, all sold on the Champs-Elysées and at the french department store LE PRINTEMPS where she had a corner. One day she got tired and decided to close her salon and all of her other activities to continue her Art studies and dedicate herself to painting. She started working again in the late 80's in New York with her best friend (and legendary french fashion editor) Melka Tréanton. 

Here are a few article scans:

Photo of Thérèse Chardin published in an Italian magazine during the 70s

Thérèse Chardin now (Photo by Pierre-Alban HF)

"Princess Grace of Monaco comes to see her everytime she's in Paris"

Her work is celebrated in the following books:

Sacha's book is a must have for any fan of fashion and photography

Also check out this short video, at 3:08