Charlotte Casiraghi. “Writing has the power to revive the past.”

Go to bookstore 7L. A unique place in Paris that brings together Karl Lagerfeld’s library and which once again hosts “Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon”. To discuss Colette, actress Clemence Poesy and writer Emmanuel Lambert are invited around Charlotte Casiraghi. An opportunity for her to return to her interest in women writers and her passion for books.

Madame Figaro. – You are the initiator of the Chanel Literary Meetings, can you tell us what this is for you?

Charlotte Casiraghi: It’s a passionate and exciting project. I had a very personal relationship with Karl Lagerfeld, who introduced me to reading, particularly discovering great female literary figures. He gave me books by Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Lou Andreas-Salome. These literary meetings are a tribute to this transmission, but also to the fact that Gabrielle Chanel was a very avid reader, passionate about literature and poetry, who received writers and artists in her living room.

What do these meetings bring you over time?
These are connections that are made, sensibilities that are encountered. There is something new woven into the exchange, no two encounters are alike. It is first of all the meeting of creativity and literary texts, but also of the personalities who carry them. Whether it’s the author we welcome or the reader, each brings a perspective and a particular sensibility to the work. And that’s what makes these meetings so interesting for me.

These meetings all have the theme of women’s emancipation. In your opinion, how does literature help to improve the condition of women? For me, writing is a way to reclaim my body and, more broadly, my life. Although women’s words are often silenced, literature is a space of expression that allows us to realize their relationship with society, their time, their intimate space. These are precious testimonies of women’s experiences.

Which writer particularly inspired the emancipation movement? There have been many. I must say that meeting Colette was very powerful, but I also think of Lou Andreas-Salome, a psychoanalyst and writer who interacted with the great geniuses of the 20th century.^econfronted them and challenged their intelligence. He never locked himself into any thought or doctrine, he was extremely free and elusive. Somehow, the way he challenged men inspired me a lot.

What do you like about Colette? I especially like his ability to reinvent himself. Throughout his life, and despite his disappointments, he always found a way to bounce back. Whether through writing, theater, music, or being a business woman, she multiplied the sources of emancipation and never locked herself into a certain role. The sensuality of his writing is extraordinary. Nobody writes like him. There is something very physical about his style, in his choice of adjectives, in the way he arranges his sentences. Colette has her own music that can give incredible sensations while reading.

Is there a scene, part, character that shocked you in Colette? I was very marked Dear By Colette. This love story between a young man and an old woman really touched me. There is a very violent and at the same time rather unusual scene : After leaving Leah to marry Edme, a young woman her own age, Sherry returns to her former lover for a few months. One morning, Lea is sleeping in her house and surprises him without makeup. Then he discovers his wrinkled neck, his face marked with age. This extremely violent part is also surprisingly simple.

Collette’s novels are marked by the theme of memories and the experience of a woman’s life. Can you put your memories on paper? I have always kept a diary, but I keep it to myself. It allows me to rediscover sensations, to remember some moments of my life. Writing has the power to revive the past.

What is the role of literature for you? It has several functions. It should be critical of our time, showing its contradictions. It also has the power to broaden our perspective, opening us up to political and social situations that are very different from our own. Ultimately, it provides a greater understanding of the complexity of humanity. I am thinking, for example, of the discovery of Leonora Miano’s work on the issue of women in Africa. She talks about how women feel about their bodies, as well as the cultural, historical and mythic lens of the female condition.

The Rendez-vous littéraires episode dedicated to Colette can be found here Cambon Podcasts: And chanel.com