Chanel.docx for Pallavi Mam. for Exam

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-:CHANEL:-

Among the key designers who made a bold and lasting impression

on women's fashion in the twentieth century, Gabrielle "Coco"

Chanel (1883±1971) deserves special recognition. Born in Saumur,

in the Loire Valley of France, Chanel survived an impoverished

childhood and strict convent education. The difficulties of her early

life inspired her to pursue a radically different lifestyle, first on the

stage, where she acquired the nickname "Coco," and then as a

milliner.

With the help of one of the male admirers who would provide keyfinancial assistance and social connections over the course of her

career, Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913, followed by

another in the resort town of Deauville. Selling hats and a limited line of

garments, Chanel's shops developed a dedicated clientele who quickly

made her practical sportswear a great success. Much of Chanel's

clothing was made of jersey, a choice of fabric both unusual and

inspired. Until the designer began to work with it, jersey was

more commonly used for men's underwear. With her financialsituation precarious in the early years of her design career, Chanel

purchased jersey primarily for its low cost. The qualities of the fabric,

however, ensured that the designer would continue to use it long

after her business became profitable. The fabric draped well and

suited Chanel's designs, which were simple, practical, and often



inspired by men's wear, especially the uniforms prevalent when

World War I broke out in 1914.

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As her fashion-conscious customers fled Paris at the beginning of the

war, Chanel's boutiques in Deauville and Biarritz flourished. Chanel's

uncluttered styles, with their boxy lines and shortened skirts, allowed

women to leave their corsets behind and freed them for the practical

activities made necessary by the war. Elements of these early designs

became hallmarks of the Chanel look (1975.7; 1984.28a-c; 1976.29.7)

Chanel took great pride as a woman in designing for other women, and

by 1919, at the age of thirty-two, she enjoyed huge success, with clients

around the world. Soon after, she relocated her couture house in Paris

to 31 Rue Cambon, which remains the center of operations for the

House of Chanel today.

A Style Icon

Chanel's own lifestyle fueled her ideas of how modern women

everywhere should look, act, and dress. Her own slim boyish figure and

cropped hair became an ideal, as did her tanned skin, active lifestyle,

and financial independence. Throughout her career, Chanel succeeded

in packaging and marketing her own personal attitudes and style,

making her a key arbiter of women's taste throughout the twentiethcentury.

The designer's passionate interests inspired her fashions. Her apartment

and her clothing followed her favorite color palette, shades of beige,

black, and white (1978.165.16a,b; 1984.30). Elements from her art

collection and theatrical interests likewise provided themes for her

collections (C.I.65.47.2a,b). When Chanel attended a masquerade ball

dressed as a figure from a Watteau painting, she later reworked the

costume into a woman's suit (C.I.54.16.1a,b). She hired Russianémigrés from her circle of friends to work in her embroidery workshop,

creating designs to her exacting specifications. Known for a relentless

drive for perfection, whether in design or fit, and strong opinions in all

matters of taste, Chanel backed her clothing with the authority of her

personal conviction.



Chanel continued to create successful looks for women through the

1920s and '30s. In 1926, American Vogue likened Chanel's "little black

dress" to the Ford, alluding to its almost universal popularity as a fashion

basic. In fact, the concept of the dress suitable for day and evening did

become both a staple for Chanel throughout subsequent seasons and aclassic piece of twentieth-century women's wear (1984.28a-c). The

designer also used colorful feminine printed chiffons in her daywear

designs (1984.31a-c). Evening ensembles followed the long slim line for

which the designer was known, but also incorporated tulle, lace, and

decorative elements that soften and romanticize the overall look of the

garment (1978.165.16a,b; C.I.46.4.7a-c).

The Closure and the Comeback

Despite her great success, Chanel closed the doors of her salon in1939, when France declared war on Germany. Other couturiers left the

country, but Chanel endured the war in Paris, her future uncertain.

Following the end of the hostilities and resolution of some personal

difficulties, Chanel found she could not idly stand by and observe t he

early success of Christian Dior , whose "New Look" prevailed in the

postwar period. While many admired Dior's celebration of femininity, with

full skirts and nipped-in waists, Chanel felt his designs were neither

modern nor suitable for the liberated women who had survived another

war by taking on active roles in society. Just as she had following WorldWar I, Chanel set out to rescue and reinvigorate women's fashion.

The designer faced challenges in this endeavor: securing finances,

assembling a new staff, seeking out new fabrics, competing at age

seventy against a new generation of designers. Chanel's comeback

collection of couture debuted in 1953 (1976.370.2a-c). Although it was

not a critical success, the designer persevered. Within three seasons,

Chanel was enjoying newfound respect. She updated her classic looks,

reworking the classic tweed designs until wealthy women and celebrities

returned to the showroom in droves. The Chanel suit became a status

symbol for a new generation, made of solid or tweed fabric, with its slim

skirt and collarless jacket trimmed in braid, gold buttons, patch pockets,

and²sewn into the hem²a gold-colored chain ensuring it hung properly

from the shoulders. Chanel also reintroduced her handbags, jewelry,



and shoes with great success in subsequent seasons.

The Legacy Continues

Following Chanel's death in 1971, several of her assistants designed the

couture and ready-to-wear lines until Karl Lagerfeld (born 1938) tookover the haute couture design in 1983 and ready-to-wear in 1984.

Lagerfeld, like Chanel at the time of her comeback, looked to past

designs for the secret to his success. His designs incorporated signature

Chanel details, tweed fabrics, colors, gold chains, quilt -stitched leather,

and the linked "CC" logo. In later collections, Lagerfeld became more

irreverent, deconstructing some of the ladylike polish of Chanel's 1960s

looks. Playing with the fact that Chanel's favorite jersey fabric had been

used for men's underwear at the turn of the twentieth century, Lagerfeld

even incorporated men's T-shirts and briefs into his designs(1993.104.2a-c). Nonetheless,



-:CHANEL COLLECTION:-

Chanel.docx for Pallavi Mam. for Exam

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