The icon of French chic, one of the most historic houses, the most codified, recognized worldwide for its double C logo, for its famous muses, its fantastic fashion shows, in short, the house of Chanel.
Gabrielle Chanel
The founder of the Chanel brand is Gbrielle Chanel. Born in Saumur in 1883 to modest parents, she would be placed in an orphanage by her father after the death of her mother, she was just 12 years old. An important period of her life because she will draw a little bit the main lines of her style to come: a lot of austerity, strict cuts, colors a little bit neutral, almost monochromatic. At 18 she will join her aunt in Moulins, she will perfect herself in the profession of seamstress in a workshop that manufactures trousseaus. A few years later between 1907 and 1908 she will move to Paris, where she will attempt a career as a singer. She performs in front of officers, who will give her the name COCO because of the song she often sings “Qui qu’a vu Coco dans l’Trocadéro”, written by Félix Baumaine and Charles Blondelet. She is very successful with men, she will seduce Etienne de Balsan, who will introduce her into modern life and gradually accustom her to the codes of high society. She then meets Arthur Capel, nicknamed boys, whose mistress, she will become and who will have a strong impact on her career. Thanks to these subsidies, in 1910 she opened “Chanel Mode” a boutique at 21 rue Cambon, where she initially sold her hat creations, later jackets and skirts. She asserts herself with a simplistic style, a little bit androgynous, her basic outfits but twisted by clothes historically from the male dressing room such as cardigans, pants. This first store was so successful that in 1913 it opened a second store in Deauville, where she expanded her product line to include jersey and some light sportswear, Gabrielle Chanel who is very avant-garde wanted to free the body of the woman’s uncomfortable clothes of the time.
In 1915 Gabrielle Chanel opened her first fashion house. In 1921 Coco Chanel with the Wertheimer brothers will create the perfume “Chanel N° 5” which will be iconic for the house and which will create the fortune of both camps. In 1924 the opening of the cosmetics line of Chanel. In 1931 beginning of the extension, Chanel went to Hollywood to dress among the most famous stars of the moment in the United States. In 1945 it was the Second World War, Chanel closed its doors. Only the store at 21 rue Cambon remains open to continue selling the perfumes and accessories that were selling well. But the fashion house is extinct during these long years of war. The situation will last 15 years marked by textile shortages.
Later in 1954 Gabrielle Chanel at age 71, women expressed the desire to dress again, new houses flourished like Dior which was extremely popular. To reconnect with the French and European market, the house of Chanel is going to organize a fashion show but which will not have the effect at all, on the contrary it will be rather poorly received. Post-war and women’s expectations have changed, and the Dior house satisfies this new extravagant style more voluptuousness of wealth in fashion creations, and this is not at all the approach of Gabrielle Chanel (a style a little bit simple and convenient). On the other hand, she will find great success in the United States, and she will dress personalities like Jane Fonda, Elisabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, Romy Schneider or even Jeanne Moreau. During this same period, the Wertheimer brothers bought the Chanel house.
The year 1955 is marked by one of the emblematic creations of the house: the famous 2.55 bag which bears the name of its date of creation (February in 1955), a bag quite innovative for the time because it is equipped with a flexible chain. slider that frees the hands of the woman who wears it.
In 1957 creation of an iconic piece, the famous two-tone shoes, and the choice of the two colors (beige and black) was not random, but rather for an aesthetic purpose: the first part of the shoe is beige, it has for purpose of lengthening the leg. And the tip of the black shoe in order to visually make the foot appear smaller.
January 1971 is the death of Gabrielle Chanel. A woman from a modest background knew how to force destiny to create a future she aspires to, she created a name for herself, she created a story for herself, sometimes even having to completely redo her past by erasing truths about her origins. , his father his childhood. In short, redesigning her heritage to create from scratch the character she aspired to, but she remains an extremely innovative woman.
Karl Lagerfeld
1978 seven years after the death of Gabrielle, Chanel the house launches its ready-to-wear success is not really there anymore. It’s time to do something because the house has started to get a little bit dusty. 1983 Beginning of the Karl Lagerfeld era, the Wertheimer brothers are looking for someone who will dust off the house and rejuvenate it while respecting the style of Gabrielle Chanel. Karl Lagerfeld right from the start he will rework the famous four-pocket jackets, black dresses and two-tone shoes with a touch of eccentricity, because we are in a completely crazy fashion era, free with limitless creativity.
He has his muses such as Inès de la Fressange whose physique reminds a little bit of that of Coco Chanel, she becomes the image and the style of the house an incarnation of miss she has moreover signed an exclusive contract with the brand, which obliges him to wear Chanel for his public outings. Later the brand will have other muses Claudia Schiffer, Cara Delevingne, Marion Cotillard nor Rosdev Kristen Stewart. All these stars deeply attached to the image of the brand and which also contributes to the image of the brand.
Karl Lagerfeld very quickly understood that we should talk about the house, he invited journalists to dinner at his house, he showers fashion editors with gifts, he invites them to accessorizing sessions to make them take a little the design of the collections, it offers bags and jewelry to the most fashionable girls of the moment to wear on television sets. In short, Chanel must be everywhere.
Also he has a great sense of what the show ought to be. The Chanel house for years in exclusivity will parade at the Grand Palais, with sets all more fantastic than each other. Example of decoration themes: the iceberg, the supermarket, the rocket, the roofs of Paris, the beach….
breathtaking decorations that always make fashion week events spectacular
On February 19, 2019, while they continued to lead the artistic direction of the house of chanel with an iron fist, Karl Lagerfeld died.
He was a person who constantly followed the evolution of fashion, in search of novelty while keeping the spirit of Chanel, he knew how to combine the simple and sober of Gabrielle Chanel with a touch of modernism and fantasy, and that’s what makes its genius.
Virginie Viard
After the death of Karl Lagerfeld, one of the questions raised is who will be able to take over the artistic direction of such a house after so many years of history and success. It was therefore Virginie Viard who had arrived as an intern at Chanel and who simply never left. She is considered the right arm and the left arm of Karl Lagerfeld “his runner-up” as he liked to call her who will take over the management of the house.
Virginie Viard is very respectful of the genius of Karl Lagerfeld, she is more discreet, she offers a less eccentric, more modest, more refined Chanel, she will divide fashion opinions, she will leave Karl Lagerfeld fans unsatisfied. With Virginie Viard we are far from eccentricity à la Lagerfeld.
The iconic pieces of the Chanel house
The Chanel house is just behind the Louis Vuitton house, in 2020 it had 8.3 billion euros in sales. The house has timeless pieces that are the emblem of the brand.
• Chanel N° 5 perfume created in 1955, the smell of women made for women.
• The little black dress which was created in 1926, at the time black dresses were reserved exclusively for mourning and Gabrielle made it an everyday item of clothing.
• The famous 2.55 quilted bag created in 1955
• The two-tone shoes created in 1957
• The tweed suits whose jacket was a revolution, in 1954 the chanel house was the first to think of putting a small chain inside the jackets in order to maintain a nice fall.
• The house’s pretty pearl necklaces which have been declined in an eccentric way in a more minimal way over the years according to the different artistic directions.
• The camellia, the reference flower of the house, a symbol of refinement, it is declined in many different ways (embroidered, in tweed, in lace, as a logo in jewelry, on bags, etc.)
Today the house is in a new era with its new artistic director Virginie Viard, and we are eager and curious to see the evolution of the house.
