THE FASHION OF COCO CHANEL - FASHION HISTORY SESSIONS

style sophistication and luxury these are ideas we associate with chanel a tweed suit a shoulder bag number five the perfume all objects of desire that represent achievement of some sort but who created all this i'm estella mendes welcome to fashion history sessions the story of gabrielle chanel is absolutely fascinating a true story of rags to riches chanel is the example of determination self-worth and the talent to understand the world around born gabrielle bonner chanel in samuel in 1883 daughter of a poor salesman annalandres she had little to do with the fine things in life that the high society of the bell epoch was indulging in a very intelligent person gabrielle soon learned that whatever lie throws at you you make the best of it this is what she always did throughout the course of her life her mother's death when she was 11 years old triggers a series of events that would shape gabrielle's life forever chanelle's father puts her in an orphanage in aubergine where she is going to learn how to read and write and especially to learn how to sew [Music] since the 17th century the french fashion industry was one of the most important industries in the country so it was common that women would have some kind of training related to fashion and this was training that was provided by the orphanage at the age of 18 chanel leaves the orphanage and moves to mulan borpone a place that had military headquarters and was full with officers she starts working as a seamstress in a tailor's shop and this is when she learns about menswear something that she will introduce in her fashion creations in the future gabrielle was ambitious her greatest dream in life was independence this is now the beginning of the 20th century and she soon understood that a girl of her condition would need financial independence and could not be dependent of a man with this in mind she pursues a stage career singing in a cafe concert a song called kiawekuku and coco chanel is born but not the stage career that died very soon in this cafe concert chanel meets etienne balsam an officer who was also a very wealthy french aristocrat and soon moves in with him to his chateau becoming an irregular a kept woman a position that she knew would not take long through valsando chanel will be in contact with high society and instead of trying to blend in she decided to stand out and this is when coco chanel starts to build her personal brand [Music] chanel started to play with clothes mixing men's wear pieces with women's wear she would dress this way and would cause a stir every time she presented herself socially this made her be known for herself rather than by being in a relationship with balsa [Music] chanel starts making hats a trait that she had learned with her mother's family when she spent summer holidays with them during the teenage years once again making the most of what life was giving her [Music] soon with the help of balsa and her new lover arthur cappell chanel opens her first shop as a millionaire at 21 who can bone in paris she was 27 years old famous actresses will be the brand ambassadors like gabriel dosia a marketing technique that chanel will forever use with war approaching chanel and arthur cappell indulge in their romance and moved to the south of france settling in deuville this was one of the happiest moments in chanel's life a moment where she believed in love and that a relationship with a high society man could be forever the time spent in the scene side was also very fruitful for her fashion creations parisian high society was flocking to the south of france with the approach of the war and chanel started to experiment with affordable materials and offering comfortable clothing to her clients [Music] from 1913 chanel opens boutiques in dauville khan and biahitz sportswear her collections become very popular and by 1917 harper's bazaars report that chanel mod is on the list for every fashionable woman with the end of the war in 1918 chanel returns to paris and opens chanel mod in 31 who combo where she still is today she pays off her investors and her chiefs her greatest goal in life independence what made chanel so successful in times of war it was mostly a creativity and her sense of understanding the needs of women in that very moment in 1913 she launches her first suit which was a jersey suit jersey was a textile mainly used for men's undergarments but with the approach of war there was not a great deal of abundance of textiles so chanel introduces affordable fabrics in high quality designer clothes this suit was very successful not only with the public but also with the critics appearing in fashion magazines like vogue and arbor's bazaar with this suit chanel opens the way to what her brand would be about a kind of fashion that understands the need of the modern woman the idea of effortless chic expressed through simplicity the combination of comfort function and beauty mixing masculine clothing with feminine clothing the use of affordable materials like flannel jersey and linen and above all evoking the natural forms of the female body implying these principles chanel enters the 1920s where she will reign the suit will be reinvented in knitwear which was very popular in this decade in the 1920s chanel makes history with a little black dress she had already experimented with a long black dress with a white collar worn by actress suzanne orlandy around 1913 but now in 1926 chanel is modeling a short version until now black was a color devoted to mourning and servitude at first it caused a shock but later women started to see how cool it was after all chanel was the cool of the 1920s [Music] by the 1930s the house of chanel was a household name synonymous with style and chic her outcouture business is booming and her fashion becomes more glamorous the fashion of the decade was indeed more feminine and glamorous chanel starts to show a consistent color palette that would prevail until today the black that she believed accentuated the essential the white that illuminates the beige that brings warmth gold that represents ostentation and inspiration by italian baroque and red the color of life chanel would mix jewelry with costume jewelry she stacked pearls with chains creating an excessive ensemble that fitted perfectly with the simplicity of her clothes in 1927 she started a partnership with the italian jewelry designer fulco di verdura and in 1930 they created the famous animal maltese cross [Music] cuffs chanel thought that fashion had made her a rich independent woman but she hadn't seen anything yet by this time it was already common for couturiers to launch fragrances so chanel decides that this is the time to do the same in 1921 she meets ernest po a russian perfumier and commissions him a perfume the difference in this perfume is that it is synthetic though it was not the first synthetic perfume and it was created with a combination of 80 different scents this created a unique scent that was modern and so chanel number five is born in [Music] 1922 two years later chanel wants to distribute her perfume that was only sold in her boutiques she is introduced to pierre fertheimer who owned the cosmetic company bourgeois by the owner of the lafayette galleries they make a deal seventy percent to verdeimer 20 to the lafayette galleries and 10 for chanel now chanel doesn't have her independence in regards to her perfume she will pursue this independence for the rest of her life even then chanel number five makes coco way wealthier than she ever expected world world 2 begins and chanel closes her boutiques setting that this is no time for fashion but she remains in occupied paris since she returned to paris after the first world war chanel lived in the ritz which is right across from her boutique she remained living in the hotel during the occupation of paris the roots was taken by nazi officers she was living amongst them chanel will begin a relationship with a nazi officer who was 15 years younger than her coco was now 57 years old in 1918 artur kappel the great lover of her life married an english aristocrat relegating chanel to the condition of mistress he died one year later of a car crash crushing all her expectations of love and marriage chanel never married she lived a free life engaging in relationships sometimes long ones with many men one of her longest relationships was with the duke of west minister for 10 years this relationship will be in the future reflected in chanel's fashion when the war ended chanel left paris retiring from the world of fashion and exiling in switzerland france would never forgive her [Music] the 1850s silhouette consisted in the very small waist enabled by the use of a corset and full skirts with crinolines and petticoats in 1947 christian dior launches his first collection called kahul he presents a silhouette with a very small waist with a full skirt which length would be 40 centimeters from the ground fashion press started to call it the new look though there was nothing new about this what was new in fact was the amount of fabric used in a skirt in times right after the war restrictions it caused bad reaction but it was also praised by women who wanted to feel beautiful and feminine again coco chanel remembered well the restrictions of dress in the ballet poc and that was something that she always fought against freedom of movement comfort the natural forms of a woman's body that's what she always stood for gabrielle chanel will not contain herself when she sees the new look and ends her exile in the name of fashion she reignites her career at the age of 70. in 1953 gabrielle chanel returns to paris and starts working in her new collection but what is chanel fashion going to be in the second phase of its existence this is the moment where chanel as we all know it today is born in 1954 coco chanel launches her new collection the french hated it after all they were hating chanel for staying in paris during the occupation and engaging with the nazis to their eyes she was a traitor but american press loved it and it was the american press who saved chanel american markets somehow saved the odd couture business that had suffered tremendously during the war it was now the american clients who bought couture the most in her new collection chanel launches the tweed suit that we all know so well this tweed suit is an inspiration of chanel's time with the duke of west minister the tweet is still today provided by a scottish company [Music] the silhouette was the total opposite of the new look a straight cut that would allow movement and was less constrained than the cinchtin waist proposed by dior it was a very practical ensemble that would allow a woman of any age to look well-dressed put together for every occasion this suit was and still is a big success accessories would also become a success back in the beginning of her career in the 1920s chanel will create a shoulder strap bag inspired by the soldier's bag the shoulder bag would free the hands of the dynamic woman of the modern age in 1955 chanel launches her 5.55 shoulder bag a leather bag that was padded to bring more comfort and which strap was in a golden chain the name of this bag is related to the launch of the collection in may 1955 also back in the twenties chanel created the two-tone shoe much to cover her need to pretend to have smaller feet so her beige color shoe would have a dark tip creating the illusion of a smaller foot [Music] this shoe will be reinvented as a slingback shoe in the 1950s the house of chanel would remain relevant and with this new face sedimented the idea of timeless style and luxury with whole uric success chanel was not entirely happy because she wanted her perfume business back it is believed that one of the reasons why she mingled with the nazis was in an attempt of getting the control of her perfume business pierre wertheimer was jewish and it was known that the nazis would confiscate all jewish businesses upon their invasion so chanel thought she could get it back from the nazis but wertheimer passed all his businesses to a catholic friend and chanel got no business back when she returns to paris she sues bertheimer for nine million dollars in today's money but this number was way more than she expected and eventually they reach a settlement of 25 million a year chanel was now officially filthy rich and off she went driving her rolls royce living in the ritz and making stylish clothes indulging in her champagne and cigarettes and still at this age engaging in various love affairs [Music] gabrielle chanel would die in 1971 at the age of 88. [Music] today chanel belongs to the wertheimer family being one of the most successful and profitable fashion houses the hot couture business is very important for the brand chanel couture is one of the few brands that turns a profit this day and age in the past decades chanel acquired ateliers that provide for our couture like lace beading pleating embroidery since 2001 the house of chanel presents a collection entitled metier de art to promote this highly specialized work this was an idea by carl langerfeld carl lagerfeld was the face of chanel since 1983 re-energizing the brand and making it more hip and interesting for a younger generation keeping the brand relevant and desirable with the passing of lagerfeld in 2019 vision evr took the helm of chanel she had been by carl's side for 20 years for the very first time since the departure of chanel in 1971 the fashion house has a woman leading the company a woman making clothes for women will visionaires keep on giving with this brand of paradoxes with the feminine and masculine the austerity and ostentation the real and imitation the beautiful and functional [Music] chanel did not left us with fashion her legacy his style and attitude please let me know what you think of chanel in the comments below this was fashion history sessions on chanel if you like this video please don't forget to like and subscribe [Music] you

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Length: 19min 54sec (1194 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 28 2021