Coco Chanel and Fashion
"Fashion Passes, Style Remains"
Coco Chanel, a name synonymous with simplistic style and undeniable class, was one of the most influential fashion designers of the Twentieth Century worldwide. For over fifty years, Coco was considered to be the "Grande Mademoiselle" of the fashion and society scene (Haedrich, Introduction.) Although she passed away in 1971, her undeniable influence on fashion and women’s role in society will continue to exist for many years to come.
Beginning her career in 1909, Coco first gained prominence in France during World War One when she developed the "working costume" for women who took over the jobs of fighting men. Unlike the predominant fashion style for women at the time, Chanel’s styles began with simple jersey dresses and black fabric. In her small shop, Chanel offered an alternative style of dress: men's pullover sweaters, sailor jackets, and straight skirts. She believed that women should dress simply and comfortably (Fashion Windows, 1999). Even amongst the chaos and bitterness of the war, Chanel's business thrived because her merchandise catered to the needs and wants of the working French women and was in fact the only big business that remained open. By the mid-1920's, Coco had established her "Chanel look" consisting of a wool jersey suit with a straight, collarless jacket. Skirts were full-cut and short, and hair was often bobbed and covered with a sailor hat (Encarta Encyclopedia Online).
Overall, Coco Chanel’s clothing styles embodied much more than appearance in that it also contained a message about women. She celebrated women and their freedom, equality, and ability to express themselves through dress. At this time, fashion magazines were the primary source for news about the latest Paris couture, and Chanel was able to use this medium to relay not only her message about fashion, but her message about women in general. Using magazines and unconventional models as mediums to revolutionize the fashion industry, she forced the acceptance of more "masculine" designs for women. In this sense, Chanel set a precedent for the coming of women's liberation. More than a mere name brand, the name Chanel came to objectify a way of life.
Typically, fashion designers follow the trends of society in order to be successful in the marketplace. However, sometimes a profoundly influential designer, such as Coco Chanel, can actually modify shifts in a society’s temperament. It has even been noted that Chanel was seen wearing bell-bottom trousers in Venice to better climb out of the gondolas, and thus started the pants revolution (History Travel, 1971). This influence which she strongly possessed is mainly illustrated through two examples. The first example occurred when Coco first introduced her style to women during and following World War One. The simplistic and fluid style of the clothes represented an alternative style of dress that some women were initially wary of. However, the majority of women embraced this new "alternative," and within a number of years the look had become the norm.
It was about this time that Coco introduced her celebrated and revered perfume, Chanel No. 5. The perfume, released in 1921, was named after her lucky number five. Like the "alternative" style of dress that she introduced, her perfume signified a marked change in the fragrance market. Not only was the name Chanel No. 5 simplistic and detached for the time, but the shape of the bottle itself was highly unique. The plain bottle with rectangular lines and a cut stopper starkly contrasted the ornate, romantic fragrance bottles popular at the time.
Not only were Chanel’s ideas revolutionary for their time, they were also heavily significant because fashion designers during this period tended to be males. In this regard, the supportive following of Chanel also revolutionized the role of women in fashion design. As Hollander (1994) states, "Women designers became very important during the twenties and thirties, many of them extending the feminine way of designing to express a subjective, tactile delight in the wearing of clothes rather than echoing the standard masculine wish to stun the beholder with a vision" (p.135). Overall, as argued by Hollander, it was during this time frame when American society struggled with new conceptions regarding females’ freedom and sexuality. The image that finally did emerge publicly consisted of a woman who retained qualities of sexual appeal, self-respect, energy, humor, and youthfulness all at the same time. As Hollander furthers, "The sophisticated French version of this American image was the actual figure of Chanel herself, who showed how to be a young, slim, and independent Girl until she died at the age of eighty-eight, still addressed as ‘Mademoiselle' " (p.138).
The second example demonstrating Coco's truly impactive nature on society occurred with her return to fashion design after fourteen years in retirement in 1953. At the time, post-World War Two fashion for women consisted largely of the pinch-waisted, full-skirted styles introduced by designers such as Christian Dior. Dior’s first collection, called the "New Look," was presented on January 12, 1947. This collection largely featured dresses with hourglass shapes and wide, full skirts falling well below the knee (Pascoe, 1998.) Due to her discontentment with this trend, Coco returned to the world of fashion at the age of seventy-one. It was then that she introduced her new collection, including her world-renowned Chanel suit. By 1959, her suit had become the uniform of well-dressed women around the world (Fashion Windows, 1999). It is reputed that while Coco was dining at Elysee Palace one evening, President Georges Pompidou of France confided to her, " I feel comfortable when my wife wears your clothes" (Haedrich, p.18).
Observing the wide array of products offered by the Chanel line, including jewelry, makeup, and accessories, it is evident to see how strongly fashion and society were linked for Coco. As she once stated, "I did not go into society because I had to design clothes. I designed clothes precisely because I did go into society. Because I was the first to live the life of this century" (DiGiacomo, 1997).
Throughout the years, Coco Chanel continued to be an icon to many women and men alike, largely because she embodied femininity and beauty, yet remained truly independent and successful in her own right. Although Chanel passed away twenty-five years ago, the fashion house she started is more successful than ever. As DiGiacomo states, "The mythology surrounding Chanel says that the fashion designer from Saumur liberated women from unwielding hats and form-choking clothes, pioneered designer fragrance, made suntans, and after a fourteen year self-imposed exile, returned to rock the fashion world with her Chanel suit." Coco was a woman ahead of her times, and her reputation for style has prevailed long after her actual life. Coco Chanel's longevity as a prominent fashion designer and respected icon can best be summed up by a statement she herself once made -- "Fashion passes, style remains."
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