Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel is a name that everyone has heard. The name brings with itself an image of a high fashion, luxury brand. The clothes are iconic and speak for themselves. Chanel’s work is that of beauty and elegance. Her designs are truly timeless; if one were to wear a Chanel Suit designed in 1916 today, it wouldn’t look out of place at all. Coco Chanel was a genius in every sense of the word.
The start of Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel’s life was strikingly different from its end. She was born in Saumur, France on August 19, 1883 and after was sent to an orphanage at the age of twelve by her father, a travelling peddler, after the death of her mother, where she learnt how to sew. She never saw her father after the age of 12 but she would tell people that he moved to America to join the army. The orphanage was part of a convent whose architecture inspired and affected her tastes and styles. Young Chanel would spend her nights singing in a cabaret to the cavalry and took on the nickname “Coco” as she often sang the song “Who has seen Coco?” yet she would love to pretend that it was a nickname that her father gave to her. It was almost as if she would put on this suit- another identity. This must have helped her transform into Coco Chanel.
Gabrielle Chanel once said “A woman should wear perfume wherever she wants to be kissed.” She introduced her iconic fragrance Chanel no. 5 which was the first ever to have the name of a designer in its title. The perfume was made by French-Russian perfumer and chemist Earnest Beaux. It was the fifth sample shown to Chanel by Beaux and was hence chosen as the name as it was also Chanel’s lucky number. Coco was inspired by men’s fashion and loved incorporating aspects of it into her designs. She also revolutionized fashion by introducing the Chanel Suit which was inspired by the Duke of Westminster’s hunting jackets. She redesigned it into a collarless jacket and made it one of the staples in womenswear for years to come. Chanel’s craft was simple yet so genius, it was beautiful. In order to ensure that the suit kept its shape, she lined the bottom of the jacket with a thin gold chain whose weight would help hold the jacket down. Mademoiselle also made clothes that were comfortable to wear and were easy to move in because she beileved that “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.” Gabrielle Chanel was an extremely independent lady who wanted to free women from the social constraints of corsets and the wants of men. This is evident from the rivalry between Dior and Chanel. Dior made clothes that women had to fit into whereas Chanel made clothes that fit the women. “Dior assumed the right to instruct women in remodelling themselves to suit his fantasies; he loved flowers, so let all women bloom into roses.”[1] She shortened hemlines and used jersey fabric to make her clothes which appealed to the modern women of the time who grew up confined by the pressures of corsets and the like.
Chanel wore what she wanted to and did what she liked. She never conformed to society’s expectations, which was visible through her work. She made the Chanel Bag with the gold chain which helped free the wearer’s hands which was a step towards the liberation of women from the patriarchy. She once refused to sit side saddle on a horse because she did not think that it was practical. Chanel cut her hair short and designed hats that were minimal and light which set the trend for years to come.
Chanel worked till the day of her death and her commitment is truly an inspiration to me. Hers is not just a brand, it is a story and it is visible through her label. As her impact on the industry has been so immense, information about her is everywhere hence is not hard to find. The house of Chanel has done an impeccable job of preserving this legacy. Her style is eye-catching and timeless. “She represented the new kind of designer, who combined in her person the hitherto masculine role of the fashion ‘genius’ with the feminine role of fashion leader.”[2]
[1] Kawamura, Yuniya. “Designers: The Personification of Fashion,” In Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies, (London, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004), 69.
[2] Kawamura, “Designers,” 68.
3 Inside Chanel, accessed February 24, 2018, http://inside.chanel.com/en/gabrielle-pursuit-passion
4“The Extraordinary Life of Coco Chanel” Little Black Dress, accessed February 24, 2018, https://www.littleblackdress.co.uk/life-of-chanel/
