A Brief History of Chanel
By: Lu Mar
Tags: Fashion, Art, History, Design, Inspiration

A Brief History of Chanel

The iconic fashion house from a historian’s view- from an orphan to a designer to a potential Nazi agent

Image via PickPik

“The Chanel aesthetic is like the force in Star Wars, surrounding, penetrating, and binding together in the universe of fashion, now and forever.” — Karen Karbo

Today’s edition of a “Brief History of” a Fashion House features the first Fashion House I have written about that was founded by a woman! Miss Coco Chanel. Chanel used her lovers’ money to create a fashion empire while transforming feminity in the form of clothing and fashion design. She ensured elegance stayed intact while ditching uncomfortable and complicated designs. Chanel transformed the use of the colour black; a colour typically only worn for mourning, was now and still is being worn daily and termed as a classic thanks to her design of the iconic little black dress.

Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel

“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury” — Coco Chanel

Despite the glamourous connotations of her brand and her designs, Chanel was put in an orphanage at age 12 by her father, after the death of her mother. As a result, she was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew, this very skill would result in her life’s work and legacy.

It is slightly scary to think, if Chanel was never placed in this orphanage she may not have learned to sew as a child. And well if she did not know how to sew, she would have never been able to create her incredible fashion brand and business.

Coco Chanel image via Wikimedia Commons

Founding Chanel

Gabrielle Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1910 and began selling hats. She then added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began making and selling clothes. She used the money from her lovers to fund her business ventures and never married.

On a chilly day, Chanel fashioned a dress out of an old jersey, and in response to the many people who asked where she got it, she offered to make them one.

“My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville.” — Coco Chanel

Chanel had a love for horses, meaning she designed clothing that suited outdoorsy women and designed clothing that was just as comfortable as the male counterparts' clothing. This jersey material was typically worn by members of the lower class, but just as Chanel herself had an incredibly poor upbringing, she brought herself and her jersey to the upper classes.

Perfume

“Perfume is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion… that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure.” — Coco Chanel

In the 1920s Chanel created the first perfume to ever feature a designer's name, Chanel №5, entitled so because it was the 5th perfume she tested. After including the factory owner and the marketer into the situation, Chanel only made 10% from each sale of the perfume. She made legal efforts to renegotiate but she never had success. Despite this, Chanel still made a lot of money from Chanel №5.

Nazi agent?

Chanel became involved with a Nazi military officer, Hans Gunther von Dincklage, which meant she received permission to stay in her apartment at the Hotel Ritz in Paris, which also operated as a German military headquarters.

When the war ended Chanel was inevitably interrogated about her relationship with von Dincklage, but she was not charged as a collaborator. However, in the court of public opinion, a relationship with a Nazi officer was considered betraying. She left the country and moved to Switzerland.

Iconic style

It was in 1925 when Chanel designed and introduced the iconic Chanel suit. The collarless jacket and a well-fitted skirt is now legendary and considered classic, but was relatively revolutionary at the time, due to the elements of masculinity and menswear. Equally, despite being considered formal nowadays, it was actually a move away from uncomfortable and confining corsets and instead was a comfortable suit, just like the men got to wear.

Similarly, black is now considered a staple in everyone's wardrobe. Yet, prior to Chanel’s introduction of the colour into the daily wardrobe, black was considered a colour exclusively for mourning. This would transcend into the revolutionary little black dress, a variation of which is seen as a classic in many women's wardrobes today.

Coco Chanel brought modernity to the fashion world, favouring functionality over flamboyance. Chanel designed the last jacket for her last collection in 1970. All pieces from the House of Chanel that date past 1983, when Karl Lagerfeld took over are Lagerfeld-Chanel, not Chanel-Chanel.

Reviving Chanel

After closing her business due to World War Two, Chanel made a comeback and reopened her brand. Whether this was to support sales with Chanel №5 or her personal hatred of the homosexual designers that were dominating Parisian couture in the 50s, one can’t say. While Balenciaga was admired by Chanel, she saw the likes of Dior and Balmain as undoing her attempt at breaking down traditional feminity.

If you read my article on Dior, you will know that he moved Parisian fashion back towards traditional elegance and feminity with tight corset dresses and full, impractical skirts. And while of course, her homophobia was completely out of order, particularly for our contemporary viewpoint, she is entirely valid to feel frustrated at men redesigning what it means to dress femininely when it includes making garments more uncomfortable to wear.

Nonetheless, at age 71 Chanel made a comeback. The French press was still unforgiving of her relationship with a Nazi officer during the war and consequently did not deliver praise at her collection. Despite this, women loved her suits and people still wear the exact same design to this day.