Coco Chanel’s influence on modern fashion Loren Fay // J86592 // AD4603 Level 4//Fashion Marketing and Communication
CONTENTS 4
Abstract
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Introduction
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Life before Chanel
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Breaking Boundaries
10-13 The infamous little black dress 13-17 The little black dress and it’s legacy 18
Chanel after Coco
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Conclusion
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Abstract In this essay I am going to be responding to the following question, ‘What era in fashion do you think was the most influential & why can you see the influence on today's communicator/designer?’. The era I am going to be discussing is ‘Coco Chanel’. I will be looking into the earlier life of Gabrielle Chanel and how she created her empire, what came after her passing and finally and much more specifically, her creation of the little black dress and the imprint it made in society and the fashion industry.
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Introduction Gabrielle Chanel, better known as Coco Chanel, revolutionised fashion and its industry. From breaking conventional gender stereotypes to new trends she has paved the way for many designers alike. Gabrielle became famous for her timeless designs, with her aim to create garments that were comfortable and practical for women. She broke into an industry predominantly ran by men and twisted it into her own, she created garments that have stayed for upwards of a century. Gabrielle Chanel was, and still is, one of the most powerful and influential fashion designers there has ever been.
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Life before Chanel
The era of Coco Chanel began in the 1920s, however Gabrielle’s less than glamorous early life was said to have paved the way for the legacy Gabrielle was about to leave. From the age of 12 she lived within an orphanage, a strict institute whereby she was as a lesser. Her father took it upon himself to put Gabrielle and her sister into the orphanage to pursue work, from that day onwards she never saw her father again. Although there was no relationship with her father Gabrielle spent a summer learning to sew and create bonnets with one of her aunts, perhaps one of the most important summers in Gabrielle’s life and career as her spark and passion for fashion design began from the small time spent creating those pieces with her aunt.
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After 7 years of living at the orphanage Gabrielle left, in 1903 she was offered a job as a seamstress. Although an extremely good job for a young woman of her social class, Gabrielle took up another job in order to pursue her bigger dreams. This was to be one of the first conventions Gabrielle would break. Gabrielle began working at the music hall whereby Coco Chanel was born, Coco’s interest in wealthy men, particularly Étienne Balsan, would be her steppingstone in breaking away from the world of poverty. Within a short 12 months she would be socialising with some of France’s wealthiest people, during her time spent with Balsan Coco left her job as a seamstress and began horseback riding, her love for equestrianism evolved as she took a deep interest in the clothing worn whilst participating in the sport.
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Breaking boundaries In the 1900’s fashion was as much about sexualisation as it was about clothes, women were to dress to cohere to social norms and standards. Similarly, you were to dress in alignment to your social class, people from a lower class would wear duller, older clothing whereas higher class people would wear brighter more structured pieces. With all the main fashion designers being male, women’s clothing was ruled by men. Floor length balloon skirts and tight corsets meant that women found difficulty in the simplest of tasks. Coco made it her aim to defy these conventions. Initially, Coco took it upon herself to dress in male attire during horseback riding, pairing it with her own handmade hat. Her choice shocked bystanders but the act was also admirable, it gained both respect and distaste from females as some found it empowering and others found it distasteful. Coco began developing her own designs from this day onwards. With help from one of her male conquests in 1910, aged just 21, Coco opened her first hat store at 31 Rue Cambon. Even her design of hats reflected her simplicity and elegance, this allowed women to be stylish and practical at the same time, defying societal norms of voluptuous heavy hats. Coco’s general distaste to the trends at the time was prevalent and carried through in her work as she juxtaposed the designers around her with her creativity.
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..“Nothing makes a woman look older than obvious expensiveness, ornateness and complication.”- Coco Chanel, 20th Century. Chanel delved into the world of designing clothes when she happened to make herself a dress out of an old jersey on a winter’s day. Many asked where the garment was from and Coco offered to recreate the piece for them. From this Coco went on to open a further two stores and sell clothing.
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The infamous little black dress As time passed and the roaring twenties were in full swing Chanel launched the little black dress in 1926; the dress was a signature look and was first exhibited on the front of American Vogue. The cover showcased a woman posing in a long -sleeved black dress belted to a low waist, styled with pumps, pears and a cloche. Vogue called it "Chanel's Ford” after Henry Ford’s insanely popular car at the time, not only was the dress as popular as the car but it was compared due to the colour as Henry Ford commented on it as being, “available in any color… so long as it’s black.” The elegant garment was to revolutionise a woman's wardrobe. Chanel’s little black dress offered women more affordable means of fashion post world war and approaching the great depression. .. “Thanks to me, they [non-wealthy] can walk around like millionaires.” – Coco Chanel, 20th Century.
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The little black dress was just one of the pivotal moments in Chanel history, as it carried and signified the shift from the Edwardian lady to a style like Coco Chanel’s. The shift was phenomenal and her outlook on the way women should dress was nontraditional. Upon creating the little black dress Coco used a lighter jersey material, the dress was straight lined and free of any corsets and restrictive materials. Again, different from the conventional norms as wearing a dress with such simplicity in public would be saw as an act of horror, however, above all the colour black broke boundaries.
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In the 1900’s the colour black was predominantly saw as a mourning colour or a colour for the lower class, stereotypically meaning designers would steer clear of designing a garment with such a controversial colour due to its negative connotations. However, Vogue also commented on the little black dress saying that it would become "a sort of uniform for all women of taste” this allowed Chanel to move away from the distaste of the colour black and reinvent black to a colour of the wealthy and classy woman. The new fashion horizon took the colour away from mourning and implemented it into haute couture. As Coco Chanel herself said, "I imposed black; it's still going strong today, for black wipes out everything else around.”
...It’s Legacy The little black dress carried its legacy through the great depression and landed itself in Hollywood, with new textiles being used other designers followed suit to create garments much like Chanel. Arguably one of the most prominent adaptations came from Christian Dior. Postwar Dior began to bring a newer meaning to the dress, the little black dress introduced women as powerful and sexy. Dubbed ‘The New Look’ Christian Dior adapted the little black dress giving it a sexier feel, his silhouette encapsulated the prominent features of a women’s body.
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His focus was on rounded shoulders, a cinched waist and a full A-Line skirt. His creation empowered women; this coheres to the reasoning behind Coco’s designs although Dior reaffirmed the idea of corsets much to Coco’s dismay. The little black dress hit the big screens in 1961 when it was worn by Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, the piece was designed by Paris couturier Hubert de Givenchy, founder of Givenchy, tailor-made for Hepburn. Inspired by Coco Chanel, Hubert designed the timeless piece with simplicity and class in mind. The dress features minimal cuts and is styled with a Tiffany necklace, with rows of pearls throughout, large sunglasses, matching black gloves and a tiara. It is argued that the little black dress worn by Hepburn is more well-known than the movie itself. The simple piece is an asset in the little black dress trend that continues today, it helped to establish the idea of a every woman needing to own a piece just like it. Harper’s Bazaar helped the piece to reappear in the 21st century as Natalie Portman wore it for a cover shoot in 2006. Later that year the dress sold for 467,000 British pounds, donated by Hubert de Givenchy himself.
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In June 1994 Princess Diana stepped out in the infamous ‘Revenge Dress’, the dress broke royal protocol, it was an off-theshoulder, form-fitting black silk dress. After her separation from Prince Charles in 1991, Diana still kept the same class and elegance even if the dress was dubbed distasteful by the royals. The dress was labelled the revenge dress as she wore it to a Vanity Fair party the night her ex-husbands adultery was aired to the world. The little black dress signified dignity, class and independence. Diana shocked world with her choice, media outlets commented globally, the reaction was comparable to the 21st centuries idea of ‘breaking the internet’. Designers began developing their own variants of the dress and the style became one of the most popular that year. Much like Coco, Diana broke boundaries although different contextually the outcomes both were the same. Breaking conventional norms, freedom and empowerment. “She’s radiant, happy and in control. Apart from losing her title of HRH, she had done exceedingly well after leaving ‘the firm.’ That night, Diana immortalized a little black dress, and wow, did she do it well.” – Alex Longmore, Huffington Post, 2018
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Chanel after Coco After Coco Chanel’s passing, Karl Lagerfield stepped up as creative director at Chanel, the brand had become ‘boring and bougiee’ and Lagerfield reinvented in the brand and enjoyed proving fashion critics wrong. His work was heavily comparable to Coco’s as he looked at the past for inspiration, he had Coco’s work to reinvent. Lagerfield focussed on the Chanel classics’, the tweed suits, the little black dress, the quilting, etc. Not only did he keep Coco’s legacy alive, but he also gave Chanel a new lease of life by developing the double-C logo we see everywhere and have grown to long for. Lagerfield was also the creative director at Fendi for most of his time at Chanel and worked closely with other brands he implemented the little black dress throughout; each piece signified the Chanel era, Coco’s beliefs, ethos and her tiresome work. Lagerfield’s love for the little black dress was prevalent. “One is never over-dressed or underdressed with a Little Black Dress" – Karl Lagerfield.
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Conclusion Overall, I believe the Chanel era has shaped modern fashion. Breaking gender stereotypes socially and in the industry has paved the way for women’s independence and freedom. As fashion is a way of expressing yourself Chanel’s capability to shift conventions has allowed women to portray themselves how they please. Furthermore, throughout the 20th and the 21st century we have consistently saw brands and designers adapt Chanel’s creations, some without even realising. With the little black dress still being a staple in a woman’s wardrobe almost a century later it is prevalent that she is one of the most influential designers to ever have existed. Chanel is still one of the highest valued and recognised brands in Haute Couture.
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References Hood Couture Magazine, (2017), The History of Chanel, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX4nXuvehfU&t=903s Bischof F, (2020), How the equestrian world inspired the designs of Coco Chanel, Retrieved from https://www.horsedeals.com.au/news/how-the-equestrian-world-inspired-the-designs-of-coco-chanel Eschner K, (2017), Why Coco Chanel Created the Little Black Dress, Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-coco-chanel-created-lbd-180965024/ Biography, (2021, Coco Chanel, Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/coco-chanel Goldstone P, (2017), A short yet comprehensive history of the little black dress, Retrieved from https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/fashion/little-black-dress-524293 Reynaud F, (2020), The Story Behind That Little Black Dress Worn by Audrey Hepburn In ‘Break-fast At Tiffany’s’, Retrieved from https://www.voguehk.com/en/article/fashion/audrey-hepburngivenchy-little-black-dress-breakfast-at-tiffanys/ Meghan Jones, (2019), The Story behind Audrey Hepburn’s “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” Dress, Re-trieved from https://www.rd.com/article/audrey-hepburn-breakfast-at-tiffanys-dress/ Wong B, (2018), The Day Princess Diana And Her ‘Revenge Dress’ Shocked The World, Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/princess-diana-revenge-dress_n_5b3514a2e4b0b5e692f5cf6b Karlson Dana, (2017), The Little Black Dress: Don’t go changing, Retrieved from https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/lbd-little-black-dresseshere-to-stay
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Image References: References Figure 1:
https://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a18697/coco-chanel-best-quotes/
Figure 2:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/beauty/fragrance/a43647/gabrielle-chanel-fragrance/
Figure 3:
https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2013/09/04/seven-wonders-how-coco-chanelchanged-the-course-of-womens-fashion/
Figure 4:
https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/coco-chanel
Figure 5:
https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/coco-chanel
Figure 6:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel
Figure 7:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/style-files/g30881/evolution-of-the-races-fashionstyle/?slide=1
Figure 8:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:31_Rue_Cambon_Ancien_Ancien_appartement_ de_Coco_Chanel.JPG
Figure 9:
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/style-files/news/g30003/a-history-of-cha-nel /?epik=dj0yJnU9LTFUbUJkV2YwUDFaTTZSeHBnMHA2aktRallrZHdDS0MmcD0wJm49Q0FSMmt2aFRXcHJJV1N1QUhoR0NMZyZ0PUFBQUFBR0JqdFBj
Figure 10:
https://1954byraejoseph.com/blogs/history/history-of-little-black-dress
Figure 11:
https://www.crfashionbook.com/fashion/g27005655/the-little-black-dress-then-andnow/?slide=4
Figure 12:
https://people.com/royals/princess-diana-revenge-dress-true-story/
Figure 13:
https://www.agneseangelini.com/coco-a-woman-a-brand/
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