Modern Icon Vol.17
Coco Chanel, whose real name is Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, was born in France on August 19, 1883, and now has more than 85 biographies about her, and three films have been released, and the reason why people talk about it so much is because her life is so legendary, even the French president lamented: "The three names left by France in the 20th century, De Gaulle, Picasso and Chanel."
Fashion Pioneer Chanel, 2009
Chanel, 2008
Chanel had a miserable childhood, when her mother died early, and then abandoned by her father at the age of 11 in an orphanage, where she had to learn to make clothes day after day, otherwise she would have to work as a prostitute.
In 1909, Chanel was just 16 years old
However, a miserable childhood also bred the seeds of success, because of the mastery of making clothing, Chanel discovered her talent in fashion, and then with the help of many lovers, she rose to become a successful businesswoman and top designer, and became a trendsetter at the time with bold and innovative ideas.
Speaking of Chanel's lover, it is also a very colorful part of her life, and there is even a special film dedicated to her legendary love experience under the title of "Chanel's Secret Love History". On her list of lovers, there are french officers, British industrialists, aristocrats and even Nazis, who also show Chanel's powerful charm as a woman.
Chanel and his lover, british industrialist Arthur Capel
Chanel with the Duke of Westminster
Chanel with French officer Etienne Balsan
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However, Chanel has been promoted to the altar because of her contribution to fashion, and it is hard to believe that although she has been dead for more than forty years, she still influences the way women dress today and defines what is fashionable. For example, the things she designed a century ago are not only popular but also popular and classic, such as —
She broke the mold and made pants a trend
Although in the early 20th century, because of the war, women have begun to wear men's pants at work, but Chanel is one of the heroes who accelerated the pants to become popular, the opportunity was that she once took a vacation in the French tourist resort of Deauville, because she did not want to expose her skin, she chose to wear a pair of navy trousers to appear, did not want this combination to be fanatically imitated by her fans, and then immediately became a trend.
However, the designer does not feel proud or proud of this, but regrets that her dress has affected the course of history, until the age of 86, she said: "Since pants became a trend, almost 70% of women attended the banquet in pants, which made me feel a little sad." ”
Marlene Dietrich, a superstar of the 1920s and 1930s, wore a Chanel suit
Wheat-colored skin became a symbol of high society because of her
Chanel's inadvertent innovations also included leading the craze for wheat-colored skin, which in the early 20th century, when pale skin was the label of nobility and tanned wheat was a sign of the lower rank, but Chanel made an inadvertent move, and everything was reversed. It was 1923, Chanel went on vacation to the Côte d'Azur to tan her skin, and when she returned to Paris, her high-society fans found this skin color more fashionable and followed suit, and then this wheat color became a symbol of wealth and beauty, and people still appreciate this healthy beauty to this day.
She took inspiration from men's lingerie to bring knitted fabrics into women's wear
Now that people wear knitted fabrics for a long time, can you think of just men's underwear at the beginning of the last century? It was Chanel's first use of knitted fabrics for women's wear, which was simple, practical and comfortable, and was the antithesis of women's clothing at that time, which was flashy, complex, and based on corsets. And the development of this fabric is also on the pulse of the times, when there was a shortage of expensive fabrics due to the war, which was easier to afford early in her career.
She launched the first synthetic floral fragrance, Chanel No.5
Mention of Chanel of course say number five perfume! Chanel pioneered this fragrance in 1921, the first synthetic floral fragrance that was primarily made from fragrances of unnatural ingredients, unlike other perfumes at the time, which used natural elements extracted from flowers. Although Paul Poiret was a fashion house that launched perfumes, he did not put the brand name on the perfume bottle at that time, but chanel, who was talented in business talent, named perfume, which opened up new markets, and decades later, major brands had their own perfume lines, and the profits of perfumes often exceeded clothing.
She makes jewelry the protagonist
In fact, in some fashion ideas, although Chanel is not the first, but good at learning and closer to the next step, she is often a promoter, such as the artificial jewelry that Paul Poiret first tried to use in clothing, which was also carried forward in Chanel's hands, when Chanel combined artificial pearls with sparkling gemstones, and then matched with simple style clothing, which immediately became a fashion whirlwind, and she also advocated mixing fake jewelry with real. Her wealthy clients have embraced it.
Chanel's Fall/Winter 2016 collection
Because her little black dress is no longer exclusive to funerals and widows
It's hard to imagine that the little black dress that has become a classic today was only worn by funerals and widows before Chanel, when her contemporaries' designers focused on red, green and electric blue, which made her feel "feel ill (very uncomfortable)", and then she introduced a small black dress up to the calf, and in 1926, Vogue magazine moved Chanel's small black dress design to the magazine and described it as "the dress that the whole world will wear," a historical classic was born.
Chanel Spring/Summer 2016 Couture
She fulfilled the chanel suit myth
Chanel was the first designer to apply the elements of menswear to womenswear, mentioned earlier knitted fabrics, in fact, including the proud Chanel suit, which is also inspired by menswear, when this suit consisting of a collarless wool coat, fitted sleeves, metal buttons and a slender skirt was the best choice for women who had just entered the workplace after the war, from Audrey Hepburn to Grace Kelly were fans, and even witnessed one of the most dangerous moments in history with Jacqueline Kennedy. U.S. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore wore a Chanel Fall/Winter 2015 suit
Although Chanel is now gone, her influence has not faded, and with the strong succession of her heir, Carl Lagerfeld, her spirit is still active in the contemporary fashion world with the brand.