Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was one of the most influential seamstresses of the 20th century. A dressmaker by training, she went beyond hats to become a rebel and a pioneer in the fashion world, creating a new style of clothing that freed women from corsets and lace ruffles by offering them sailor shirts and baggy pants.
“Nothing is more beautiful than the freedom of the body,” she said once, and her designs lived by these words: Chanel’s silhouettes were fluid and androgynous, her designs were loose and – in the case of her iconic little black dress, or LBD – – democratic. She wanted women to move and breathe in her clothes, just as men did with hers. Her work was, in many ways, a form of female emancipation.
Domingo marks 50 years since Chanel’s death at the age of 87, although his legacy endures. In addition to revolutionizing the way we dress, she helped shape a new ideal of what a fashion brand could be: a comprehensive force that could take care of every aspect of a woman’s life, from formal wear to holiday wardrobes. and evening dresses.
Chanel captured her vision in “Coco-isms”, which seem like bitter precursors to today’s ubiquitous inspirational quotes – “a woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future” or “If you’re sad, add more lipstick and attack.”
Here are 8 important style innovations from a designer who once said, “I don’t do fashion. I am fashion.”
Female pants
Chanel did not invent women’s pants – they had already entered the wardrobe during the First World War, when women began to accept jobs traditionally performed by men. But she undeniably popularized them as a fashionable piece of clothing.
The stylist liked to wear pants herself (she used to borrow them from her male lovers) and, as early as 1918, started wearing flowing “beach pajamas” while on vacation in the French Riviera. Inspired by the straight and wide cuts of sailor pants, giving them a loose and comfortable shape, she combined with big shirts or sleeveless tops.
Clothing considered spicy at the time, due to the association of pajamas with the bedroom, but in the mid-1920s it became a staple among wealthy ladies and an accessory in the Chanel collections.
Nautical tops
Chanel turned stripes into fashion. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
French sailors and fishermen have been wearing Breton blouses – striped sweaters made from knitted wool to protect them from the elements – since the 19th century. Chanel, however, turned them into fashion.
Striped pieces appeared in her boutique at the Deauville society resort in Normandy in the 1910s. She reworked them in jersey, giving them patch pockets and accessories with thick belts. The nautical look was casual and far less serious than the rigid aesthetic of the Belle Époque, quickly becoming a hit with stylish women on and off the beach.
Soon, Breton stripes could be found on the pages of British and American Vogue. And even today, you are likely to have some in the closet.
Jewelry
Claudia Schiffer, wearing big gold earrings, parades during the Chanel Haute Couture show as part of Paris Fashion Week in January 1990. Credit: Victor Virgle / Gamma-Rapho / Getty Images
Mixing the top with the bottom is a common practice in fashion today. But he was considered radical when Chanel introduced jewelry in his collections, turning something considered cheap and kitsch into a symbol of modern style (although his rival Paul Poiret should be considered the pioneer of the trend).
“A woman must mix fake and real,” Chanel once declared. “The purpose of jewelry is not to make a woman look rich, but to adorn her; it is not the same thing.”
In the early 1930s, she collaborated with Italian jeweler Duke Fulco de Verdura to create what would become her iconic Maltese Cross cuffs, adorned with multicolored semi-precious stones. By the end of that decade, she was launching exclusive necklaces made of delicate, pendant chains, and interwoven with fake pearls and shiny stones. More strands of layered fake pearls followed – used with pride by Chanel herself – and a trend was born.
The little black dress
French model Bettina Graziani in a black dress by Coco Chanel in July 1967. Credit: Reg Lancaster / Daily Express / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
In 1926, Vogue published the design of a simple black dress, up to the calf, made from Chinese crepe. It had long, narrow sleeves and a low waist, and was adorned with a pearl necklace. The magazine described it as “Ford of Chanel”, referring to the popular T model at the time. In other words, it was an outfit so simple that it could be accessible to any customer – “a kind of uniform for all women of taste”, as the publication says.
The set was nicknamed “little black” and the rest is history. During the Great Depression, the LBD became the favorite costume of an entire generation of consumers and, in later decades, an essential part of women’s wardrobes everywhere. Numerous iterations and imitations followed, but the understated elegance of Chanel’s original number remains unmatched.
The Chanel Suit
Coco Chanel in Paris, France, in January 1963. Credit: Michael Hardy / Daily Express / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
The Chanel suit was a game changer – not just for fashion, but for the release of women’s clothing.
Coco Chanel presented her first set of two pieces in the 1920s, inspired by men’s and sportswear, as well as the suits of her then lover, the Duke of Westminster. Desirous of freeing women from the restrictive corsets and long skirts of previous decades, Chanel made a tight skirt and a collarless jacket made of tweed, a fabric then clearly considered unglamorous.
The suit was modern, slightly masculine in cut, and ideal for the postwar woman who made her first foray into business. Its popularity continued over the years, and appeared in collections at Chanel’s home, including those by Karl Lagerfeld.
Some of the most influential women of all time also wore the Chanel suit, from Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly to Brigitte Bardot and Princess Diana.
Chanel No.5
Close up of model holding Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle. Credit: Fotiades / Conde Nast Collection / Getty Images
Chanel launched her namesake perfume No.5 in 1921. A year earlier, legend has it, she challenged Franco-Russian perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a perfume that would make her wearer “smell like a woman, not a rose.” The result was a mixture of 80 natural and synthetic ingredients, which Beaux presented her with a numbered series of perfume samples to choose from.
She chose the fifth. The mixture subverted the notion of fragrances as a symbol of high social class, instead of pushing the idea that women can be multiple things: natural and artificial, provocative and pure.
“It was what I was hoping for,” said Chanel later. “A perfume like nothing else. A women’s perfume, with a women’s perfume.”
It was also one of the biggest and most successful branding exercises in the history of fashion. By placing her name visibly on each bottle and advertising her perfumes, Chanel linked them forever to the identity of the house.
Jersey Dresses
The stylist in a casual yet chic outfit. Credit: Hulton Deutsch / Corbis / Getty Images
Chanel loved jersey. The fabric was especially prominent in its pieces influenced by sportswear, to the shock of its customers, who used to wear satin and silk.
It was an unusual choice for the time: Jersey had, until then, been used primarily for men’s underwear.
But it was easy to work and comfortable, encompassing everything the designer wanted to create for her clients. What’s important to Chanel, always the entrepreneur, was also relatively inexpensive and helped keep costs down while she established herself and her record label.
She was the first designer to popularize the jersey in women’s fashion, using the material for dresses, skirts, sweaters and more – a tradition that Lagerfeld maintained as a creative director in the decades after his death.
The 2.55 scholarship
Fashion and lifestyle blogger May Berthelot showing off a Chanel 2.55 bag in Paris, France. Credit: Edward Berthelot / French Select / Getty Images
One of the most iconic Chanel bags of all time, the 2.55 subverted all rules when it was launched in February 1955 (hence the name). It was the first luxury handbag for women to come with a shoulder strap – the previous claws, including Chanel’s, all had to be carried by hand.
The innovative modification offered women new freedom and transformed the way women’s bags were designed. Critics thought the 2.55 was rude, but buyers loved its practicality. And it was certainly practical: the chain strap could bend and dangle on one shoulder, an outer flap pocket was designed to store money, and the central bag was perfectly shaped for lipstick.
The 2.55 also brought two Chanel signatures: the deep burgundy used in its lining and the quilted with diamond stitching, inspired by jackets worn by men in the races.
Top image: Coco Chanel with Duke Laurino of Rome on a beach in the Lido.