Haute couture designs by Gabrielle Coco Chanel reflected artistic and socio-cultural change

Provide an analysis of how the haute couture designs created by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel reflected artistic and socio-cultural change in the twentieth century from her early beginnings to her comeback in the 1950s.

The essay, “Haute couture designs created by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel,” thoroughly discusses how the fashion designs created by Chanel in the twentieth century took the fashion industry by storm. During the advancement of her career, Chanel managed to establish ostentatious fashion outlets across Europe, in both, London and Paris. Her earlier days in the fashion industry led to the establishment of her own boutique where she designed casual attire fit for sporting or leisure activities. Chanel also sold jackets and sweaters that brought her immense popularity all across the world. Her jackets and sweaters were rather innovative because they were made out of jersey which was used to design men’s underwear in the twentieth century. From her early beginnings to her comeback in the 1950s, Chanel designed the haute couture that reflected the socio-cultural, artistic and historical practices and events of the twentieth century (Scafidi 2006).

In the twentieth century, styles had become quite accessible. Designers could easily find the materials they needed and carve them into unique designs. During the twentieth century, the process of travel and communication had become simple. Travelling across continents had become easy. Following the similar pattern, fashion across regions was inspired by the beliefs and traditions of people. For instance, in the early years of republic, people in America preferred wearing revealing clothing. The idea underlying this fashion trend revolved around expressing democracy and liberty. With the progression of time, women preferred the kind of fashion that was not only reasonable and comfortable, but also empowering (English 2013).

During the revolution of fashion in the twentieth century, the emergence of ‘Coco’ Chanel led to a whole new era of fashion fabrication. The haute couture designs of Chanel represented the changing lives and desires of women in the twentieth century. Her contemporary and unique sense of fashion was rather contradictory of the designers who came before her. Former designers shaped fashion out of their own fantasies whereas Chanel preferred a more realistic approach. Her designs reflected art, desire and excitement. Paul Poiret, a fashion designer who entered the industry before Chanel, established his mark in the early twentieth century. However, his designs failed to encircle the modern life. On the contrary, Chanel optimized her designs to suit the modern youth of the new century (Glick 2012).

Her designs were not too over-the-board; they were rather simple yet elegant. Whatever Chanel designed for women swayed between loose and tight, accommodating their form in the most befitting manner to ensure maximum comfort. Her designs were somewhat inspired by her wares. Chanel wore what she appeared to be the smartest in and design the attire that absolutely revolutionized women’s fashion. Descriptively, she found herself more comfortable wearing a trimmed skirt with a notched-collar jacket that stretched to the hip, slightly squeezing at the waist. She was also passionate about black and white (Salmanova 2006)

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Image 1: Jacket and dress, Coco Chanel, (spring–summer 1920), photograph.

Social dynamics of a society are to be comprehended by taste and fashion (Jukka 1997). Chanel’s haute couture designs in the twentieth century shaped her identity. She also managed to boost the ticket sales by keeping her presence anonymous in the production. Besides, she was skilled at the use of scuffs and jewels to design clothing that subsequently arose to popularity amongst the youth. As discussed earlier, Chanel was one of a kind who embraced reality to stand out from the crowd of fashion designers who were inspired by fantasy and fiction. During the beginning of her design career, she wore jersey because it was reasonable. Borrowing designs from men’s apparel led Chanel to design apparel from being merely a hat designer.

Image 2: Takashi Hatakeyama, ***Coco Chanel*, 1927, photograph.**

In the early twentieth century, the society had become deeply obsessed with culture that tremendously influenced art and fashion. The young generation’s purchasing power and preference for revolutionary attire substantially contributed to the success of street fashion. Chanel, who had mastered the art of designing, challenged the convention of the nineteenth century. Without considering moral standards, rules or tradition as obstacles, Chanel allowed fashion to evolve into new directions (English 2013).

The entire process began with Charles Frederick Worth, a Parisian couturier, who sold his exquisite designs to the royal families of Europe. In a scandalous manner, he also reproduced similar designs in reasonable prices for the middle class of America. Designers such as Vionnet, Poiret and Paquin retraced the footsteps of Worth due to which ready-made apparel or prêt-à-porter became a popular choice in the early twentieth century (Steele 1994). In 1929, Patou, Lelong and Chanel established their haute couture salons to sell prêt-à-porter.

Image 3: Francis Hammond, ***Chanel’s Couture Salon*, undated, photograph.**

During her early years as a fashion designer, Chanel realized that fashion had been democratized. For instance, women preferred short hair abandoning corsets, and there was a wide distribution of machine-made apparel. In simple sociological terminology, the middle class rose and the fashion codes designed for the elite experienced a slow and steady decline (Evans 2000). Chanel was the first designer of her term who dared to break the firmly-established status quo by incorporating this societal revolution into her designs (Fass 1977).

Image 4: Man Ray, ***Coco Chanel*, 1935, photograph**

One can never deny the fact that varying trends in fashion can be oddly satisfying and amusing concurrently. However, changes in the society, economy and politics have also made remarkable contributions to fashion throughout history. In the twentieth century, there had been a great hype for art and fashion, and it is rather necessary for any fashion enthusiast or observer to consider how fashion had been deeply rooted into society’s cultural element (Belton 1989-1990). Twentieth century was the era during which Chanel’s haute couture designs were molded by changes in advertising media, politics, music, art and many other societal forces. One can go back in time or choose to move on simply by a change of wardrobe (Lehmann 2000). Dressing is one way our views about society, environment or politics are showcased to the world.

Reference List

Belton, Robert J. “Fashion and Surrealism by Richard Martin.” Woman’s Art Journal 10, no. 2 (1989-1990): 34-35.

English, Bonnie. A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th and 21st Centuries: From Catwalk To Sidewalk. Oxford: Bloomsbury, 2013.

Evans, Nicholas M. “Writing Jazz: Race, Nationalism and Modern Culture in the 1920s.” (Garland Publishing Inc.) 2000.

Fass, Paula S. The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920s. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1977.

Glick, Lindsay Anne. “REVERSING THE GAZE: ROBERT DOISNEAU AND THE FASHIONING OF COCO CHANEL.” Master Thesis, Department of Art, Montanna State University, Bozeman, Montana, 2012.

Jukka, Gronow. The Sociology of Taste. London: Routledge, 1997.

Lehmann, Ulrich. “Tigersprung: Fashioning History .” Fashion Theory 3, no. 3 (2000): 297-322 .

Salmanova, K. “COCO CHANEL: THE WOMEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD OF FASHION.” 2006.

Scafidi, Susan. “Intellectual Property and Fashion Design.” In Intellectual Property and Fashion Wealth, by Peter K Yu. 2006.

Steele, Valerie. “Women of Fashion: Twentieth Century Designers.” Woman’s Art Journal 15, no. 1 (1994): 42-44.

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