Her vision of beauty is in fashion 50 years after her death
Coco Chanel: I brought it all to the world
Gabrielle Chanel revolutionized women's fashion in the 20th century. ■ Archives
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The black dress and the mouth painted in lipstick are a symbol of timeless elegance, while the "number 5" is still the master of perfumery, 50 years after the death of Coco Chanel, whose vision of comfortable elegance is still present in the look of the modern woman.
Even "Vogue France" magazine in 1927 described its influence by saying: "Chanel style .. without him there is no beautiful-dressed woman."
"Coco Chanel", whose original name is Gabrielle Chanel, is recorded as having revolutionized women's fashion in the twentieth century, summarizing it by saying: "There is a world that was ending, and another that was going to be born. We needed simplicity, comfort and clarity, I presented all this to the world."
Since its beginnings in the 2000s, Chanel has been going the opposite way in the fashion of its era.
She wore the clothes she designed herself, while the male co-workers would design her outfits for perfect femininity.
Coco fashion is distinguished by its flexibility, as it is inspired by sportswear, and it borrows some of the characteristics of elegant men's clothing.
The designer resorted to knitwear, jersey and tweed to create elegant clothes without appearing formal.
Caroline Evans, art historian and professor at Central Saint Martins in London, noted that the pictures dating back to the first decade of the twentieth century “show (Chanel's) mastery of the appearance of male apathy, as evidenced by her placement of her hands deep in her pockets.”
This pose was not common in that era, except that the designer made her models adopt it as well, and she wanted versions that resemble her, that is, skinnier, flat chest, straight body.
Mirren Arzalouz, director of the Galleria Palace museum, dedicated to fashion in Paris, believes that "Paul Poiret freed women from corsets or corsets, but it was Chanel who focused her innovation on women, and her concept of elegance is linked to spontaneity of appearance and freedom of movement."
"Active Woman Costume"
A visit to the retrospective dedicated to Chanel in Galliera, which opened last October before its second general closure, allows us to observe the maximum degree of modernity in her designs, on the eve of the half-century anniversary of her death on January 10, 1971.
Galliera Group Director, Veronique Belloir, explained that she “came with a new vision of feminine elegance, radically different” from what was prevalent, as it is “without restrictions, and does not give in at all to the fashion of that time.”
The expert stressed that "what (Chanel) proposed in her era was very avant-garde. These are the things that all women do today, which are the combination of the ordinary and the elegant, between traditional jewelry and those exotic in their shapes and the materials used in them, between the masculine and the feminine."
It is true that the black dress was not invented by Chanel, but it is an example of her style.
Fashion historian Olivier Sayard wrote, “The black dress is an abstract form of dress that all women wear, but Chanel does not stop there. Rather, in addition to extinguishing the colors, she cuts off the heads of the dresses, removes her collars, takes off decorative backs and removes them and erases them. ».
In 1921, her perfume "Number 5" was born, which is "manufactured and artificial like a dress," which does not recall any specific smell, as it combines the scents of flowers, woods and spices.
As for the bottle of this perfume, it was distinguished by its simplicity and geometric shape, in black and ivory colors, according to her fashion style.
And when Chanel returned to the profession in 1954 (after a period of cooperation with the Germans during World War II, followed by exile in Switzerland), it was the era of the "New Look" of Christian Dior, the form that glorifies the old standards of femininity, but Gabriel Chanel, who was 71 I was put back against the tide.
Its feminine dress, which is characterized by its simplicity, was initially criticized for its lack of modernity, before decades ago becoming an iconic piece and the outfit of the energetic woman.
Olivier Sayard noted that Chanel "moved away from the stylized style of the 1950s and became a spiritual guide for young people. Her structured style, closer to uniforms than to the instability of clothes, imposed a behavioral pattern on the 1960s generation."
Childish woman
As for the accessories, she also expressed Chanel's pursuit of practicality, including the two-tone shoes, in which the beige suggests that the leg is longer, and hides the spots with its black tip, or the quilted bag that is placed on the shoulder because Chanel is "tired of carrying bags in her hand and losing them."
This Chanel bag appeared to be organized in a thoughtful way from the inside, with a number of pockets, one of which is for lipstick.
Chanel style defines makeup as well.
"The boyish woman redraws her face by highlighting her gaze and coloring her lips in red, while heavy make-up was previously the preserve of actresses and women of society," explained Chanel heritage official Julie Didier.
Chanel 5
Chanel described it as "an artificial perfume, artificial like a dress, that is, it was manufactured."
Adding clearly: "I am a seamstress ... I do not want roses, nor lily of the valley, but rather I want a perfume that is combined."
Chanel assigned the task to perfumer Ernst Bau, who created a formula that did not reproduce any scents found in nature.
Also, the simplicity of the shape of the black and ivory bottle, which has undergone slight modifications over the years but has kept its simplicity, contrasted with the luxurious bottles of the time.
About that, Gabrielle Chanel said: "I will put everything in the fragrance, nothing in the form."
Veronique Belloir: "She came with a new vision of elegance. It is true that the black dress was not invented by Chanel, but it is an example that expresses her style."
The
padded shoulder bag was made because Chanel "got tired of carrying the bags in her hand, losing them."
- In 1921, her perfume "Number 5" was born, and it was manufactured as a dress.
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