THE TIMELESS COCO♥

Today, I want to give you a...kind of long Fashion History lesson. Coco Chanel is one of my biggest inspirations as an aspiring Fashion Designer, she was a remarkable woman; a girl who achieved greatness through her clothes, a person who revolutionized the Fashion Industry. One the next paragraphs you will learn a little bit about an outstanding Fashion Designer, and I really hope you will enjoy learning about her as much as I did!

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, otherwise known as the famous Coco Chanel, is one of the most influential characters in the fashion industry of all time. She created the luxurious brand, Chanel. Famous for the always fashionable use of black in every piece of clothing, from a jacket to a skirt, and the double “C” logo, Chanel is, and will always be, one of the top choices when it comes to luxury, style and sophistication. Coco’s contribution to the fashion industry was something not many designers can even begin to dream of. She was not a typical fashion designer, someone who just created clothes, she was a stylish revolutionary icon who is and will be followed for many decades to come.

Born in August 19, 1883 in a tiny city in France, life was never easy for Gabrielle. She was in a poverty stricken neighborhood and at the age of twelve sent to in a catholic orphanage, were nuns took care of her. She spent about seven years in that orphanage where the nuns taught her how to sew, and as it is said, “practice makes perfect” she became very skillful at sewing, which made her interest in fashion to ignite, and from that moment on she just kept moving forward in the Fashion World creating one of the most famous fashion brands that has ever existed.

Chanel is famous for revolutionizing fashion for women. Women’s fashion was very pompous and ostentatious. They all wore corsets, big dresses, exotic feathers and furs. Coco was never able to afford those kinds of luxuries, so she created her own clothes. They were a mixture of men and women clothing, being the first designer to do that kind of blend, also the first one to use “jersey”, a fabric commonly used for men’s underwear.  The jersey clothing was ideal for the women having to take on hard work factory jobs while the men were away fighting in World War I. This is why she became an icon of the feminine liberation.

The creative process of designing her garments was inspired by her life experiences and the people she had met over time, like the nuns that took care of her in the orphanage and the love of her life Arthur “Boy” Capel. Capel’s own clothing style, particularly his blazers, and her childhood memories with the nuns, who were always wearing black,  inspired Coco to create the iconic Chanel look, which is simple, versatile, elegant and sophisticated.

The first House of Chanel was opened in 1915, presenting to the world a new vision of fashion, something that intrigued the women of the time; they had never seen something so simple yet so sophisticated and refined. She designed clothes that were loose-fitting and practical, which allowed freedom for the women but they where also elegant; she made the color black a signature of grace and sophistication.   This change she did with women's clothing is why her brand started to gain hundreds of fans and supporters, dressing many European women, actresses and then, after quite a lot of devotion and effort to the brand, gaining the love from the American woman; something very hard to achieve back then.

In the 1930s she launched the iconic Chanel suit, which is also known as “The Little Black Jacket”. This black jacket is the greatest example of Chanel’s style. The jacket has tweed as a basis and has a braided trim. It is fluent and offers total freedom of movement, something Chanel is known for. The buttons either resemble coins or are gold with the double "C" logo characteristic of the brand.  Sewed to the inside of the jacket is a very delicate chain that ensures that the garment falls perfectly and maintains perfect grace.

Dressing big starlets like Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Baxter, and the fabulous Marilyn Monroe for their movies helped her to promote her brand worldwide. During this time her clothing became much more popular and her sales started to rise massively. Her already high status in the fashion industry summed up with the reach those big famous actresses had back then, made her go almost global. People all around the world knew about her, everyone wanted to dress like her, and women wanted to have her classic style. This massive growth of her brand never stopped, not even after her death in 1971.

The House of Chanel clothing is simple, something you can always wear, that never goes out of style. It is something that a designer can remake and reinterpret and that you can wear all the time. Various people took over the brand after Coco Chanel’s death, but not a single one of them had the same aspirations for the brand as Coco did, nor the revolutionary ideas and creativity she had. Chanel continues to remain relevant because it has evolved with the times, while retaining its essence. This is thanks the fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. Karl has showed the fashion industry that he has what it takes to almost fit Coco’s shoes. He has known how to bring to Chanel many innovations and new ideas without losing sight of the characteristic style that Coco brought to life when she founded Chanel. He took over the House of Chanel and began to play, reinvent and modernize the legacy Coco had left.

To show his love for Coco, Karl Lagerfeld started “The Little Black Jacket” Campaign. This is a campaign meant to never end the reign of this iconic piece in 2012. He contacts many different public figures, like the British model Georgia May Jagger, actress Diane Kruger, singer Kanye West (as men are now wearing the jacket too), and many more public figures who are photographed by Lagerfeld wearing the jacket in various different ways. Some wear it whit jeans and a white shirt, while some others wear it with swimsuits and gowns. By doing this Karl wants to show that the jacket, as much as many other pieces from the House of Chanel, can be worn in various ways, either dressed up for something fancy like a party or dressed down for a night out having dinner.  These pictures are later shown in the so called “The Little Black Jacket Exhibition”, a display shown in a variety of fashion forward cities like Paris, London, Hong Kong, Sao Pablo, amongst others. This gives the jacket, as well as the rest of the brand an eternal essence.

After being photographed for “The Little Black Jacket’ campaign, French model and singer Lou Doillon was interviewed for the Chanel’s YouTube page about the jacket. She said, “The moment you have a Chanel jacket something happens, something strange and very personal. You feel a little proud. You hold your head higher.” Doillon is the perfect example of what wearing something from The House of Chanel means to women. Every piece has an effect on women, it generates them a feeling of power and elegance that not many designers can achieve. 

Hope you enjoyed reading about this amazing Fashion Designer! God Bless You ALL!!.xx