Focus
on Chanel
A history of
one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, from her
humble beginnings as a child, to the pioneer of an industry, dominated
by men.
Gabrielle Chanel was born in
Saumur in the Loire Valley on the 19th of August 1883, but spent most
of her young life growing up in Auvergne. She was a child of poverty,
born to a frail sick mother and a philandering father. Her mother
who was constantly ill died when Chanel was twelve of tuberculosis,
rejected by other family members and her father, Chanel and her two
sisters were sent to an orphanage at Aubazine, she never saw her father
again. As she turned eighteen she was given the choice of becoming
a nun or continuing her education, refusing to join the church she
carried on her education as a charity case in a boarding school in
Moulins. Life at school was very harsh the poorer students were kept
away from the paying students; she lived in unheated quarters, ate
second-rate food and dressed in plain rough clothing. Learning to
sew at school she took a job in a lingerie firm and a second job at
a tailors mending the uniforms of the soldiers stationed near by.
Chanel was determined to put her poverty stricken past behind her,
she wanted wealth but not through marriage, money to Chanel meant
independence. She dreamt of fortune as she worked in the shop during
the day and as a cabaret singer at night. One of the only two songs
she knew earned her the name of Coco, the soldiers would shout this
out after her performance. Many of the soldiers stationed at the garrison
were aristocrats and it was not too long before Chanel was being bought
meals and given gifts. One such soldier by the name of Etienne Balsan
whose family fortune came from textile manufacturing invited Chanel
to his family home and before long she became his mistress. Chanel
was overwhelmed by the grandeur of it all and found it very difficult
and uncomfortable to dress like the other mistresses who would wear
elaborate dresses which were corseted to create the fashionable S
shape and draped in yards of fabric. Chanel created her own style
using clothing from her male friends, shirts, ties, jackets and jodhpurs
were all given the Chanel makeover to create a pared down comfortable
look. During her time with Balsan she created her own range of hats
that the actresses of the day would wear on stage. This is where Chanel
first got noticed, when pictures of her hats appeared in the papers,
other designers took notice and started paring down their elaborate
designs to create a simpler style. In 1912 she met Arthur 'Boy' Capel
an English coalmine heir and polo player. He became the love of her
life and she was devastated when in 1919 he died tragically in a car
accident. Capel financed her move from Balsans studio where she produced
her hats, to a shop in Paris, on the Rue Cambon, which became synonymous
with her name for the rest of her life. Chanel was now a businesswoman;
she kept just one thing from her past, a camellia the trademark flower
of high class kept women. She turned this into a luxury accessory
in white silk.
In 1913 she opened a boutique
in Deauville and two years later in Biarritz.
Her flannel jackets, jersey tunics and straight skirts were a hit
on the promenades, society women felt liberated. Chanel was not the
first designer to liberate women from their corsets, but she had other
ideas about liberating women. She wanted to free women's minds from
the spiritual laziness that made them dependent on men. Fashion was
not just a look but also a way of living, more of a lifestyle.1918
saw the expansion of her Paris store not just selling summer clothing
to wealthy patrons who spent their summers at their beach homes but
also now to the ladies in the city. She created dress, coat ensembles
in beige jersey and evening gowns of black tulle decorated in jet.
Chanel was meticulous about every detail and often a model would stand
for hours in a toile until the armhole or collar was correct. This
earned her a reputation for perfection. From the beginning Chanel's
approach to design was mobility. Her designs followed the silhouette
of the body and her collections the spirit of the 1920's. Picasso
became a close friend of Chanel but where designers such as Poiret
and Schiaperelli got carried away with the current themes of the time
that influenced them Chanel stayed true to her beliefs that the main
purpose of clothing is to be of service to the wearer and not be a
figment of humour to others.
Chanel celebrated
her fortieth birthday with the launch of her first perfume Chanel
No. 5. Unlike other designers whose perfumes came in elaborate bottles
Chanel always stayed true to herself and chose a plain unassuming
bottle. During the Thirties Chanels life was a mixture of glamour
and hard work. She dined with the artists, aristocrats, spent days
salmon fishing with the richest man in England, The Duke of Westminster,
and played cards with Winston Churchill. The unhappy days of her youth
gave her an appetite for
good living and splendour. Her apartment was above the couture salon
on the Rue Cambon. It was tastefully decorated with 18th century furniture,
crystal chandeliers and oriental ornaments. During the great depression
in America Chanel made Hollywood producer Samuel Goldwin an offer
to clothe his stars for $1million a year. Chanel saw this as a way
to gain back some money as American society ladies were economising
on couture clothing. This offer was unsuccessful and as the thirties
drew to a close Chanel became very bitter about her financial situation,
and the threat of a 2nd world war. In 1936 she faced her biggest humiliation
when she was locked out of her salon by striking workers. The previous
summer her then lover died of a heart attack and with the onslaught
of a 2nd world war she never felt so alone. When the war broke out
in 1939 she closed her salon and laid off all the staff. She spent
most of the war in Paris then as the war ended she went into exile
in Switzerland. In 1947 Christian Dior brought out the New Look, with
its wasp waisted jacket and its voluminous skirts. Ideas that Chanel
had driven out in the 20's were coming back. Men again had control
of women's fashion.
Sales of her perfume Chanel No
5 were dropping and at the age of 70 she decided to make a comeback.
Chanel returned to her old salon on the Rue Cambon. Chanel showed
her first collection for fifteen years on February 5th 1954. Fashion
journalists called the show 'a melancholy retrospective'. They had
been shown the future of fashion but it reminded them of the past.
The 1960's would repeat many ideas from the 20's but in 1954 only
Chanel could see it. Two seasons later she was back, the new tailored
suit with a braided trim jacket and gilt buttons was the outfit that
every woman wanted to own whether it was the real thing or a copy.
Sling back shoes with the contrasting toecap, jewellery made from
artificial gemstones and the infamous shoulder chain bags were copied
all over the world.
Gabrielle Chanel died at the
age of 87 on January 10th 1971, in her hotel suite at the Ritz in
Paris. Time magazine had estimated that Chanel had an annual income
of $160 million when she died. For all her money her bedroom when
she died had no pictures on the wall, it was completely bare, being
compared to the convent cell were she spent her younger years. In
1983 Karl Lagerfeld took over the creative role at Chanel, he treated
Chanels heritage with such little respect that he managed to turn
the beleaguered fashion house around to a popular and wanted label.
The double C logo became iconic and by the end of the 90's the collections
looked as though Lagerfeld had returned to Chanels original roots,
with the lightness of material and their elegant neatness.
to top ...
