Before their rivalry became legendary, Lucien Lelong and Coco Chanel were friends, allies, even bound by mutual respect and a shared belief in Parisian elegance. In the 1920s and early 1930s, they moved in the same circles, admired each other’s work, and represented two different but complementary visions of French fashion. Lelong admired Chanel’s modernism.Continue reading “Lelong and Chanel: A Friendship That Turned Cold”
Tag Archives: coco Chanel
The 9 Innovations of Chanel: How Coco Changed Fashion (and Beauty) Forever
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel saw how fashion, beauty and luxury had been during the Victorian era. She designed and re-designed hats as a seamstress in a shop before venturing out to develop the House of Chanel. Not only did Chanel design clothes — she re-designed the way women lived in their bodies. Her innovations weren’t trends;Continue reading “The 9 Innovations of Chanel: How Coco Changed Fashion (and Beauty) Forever”
Chanel No. 5: The Modern Scent That Changed Everything
Ah, the ever so classic pardon, Chanel No. 5. The fragrance Marilyn Monroe famously stated, she wears every night going to bed. When Chanel No. 5 debuted in 1921, this fragrance make an entrance, it rewrote how fragrances were to be made. At a time when women’s perfumes fell into two narrow categories which were single‑flowerContinue reading “Chanel No. 5: The Modern Scent That Changed Everything”
Chanel and the Occupation: Was Chanel a Spy or Wasn’t She?
Paris was occupied, couture was collapsing, as for Coco Chanel, the lady who built an empire on freedom made choices that would haunt her legacy long after the war ended. Coco Chanel built an empire on simplicity, modernity and an almost ruthless clarity of vision. But when the 1940s rolled around the 1940s, the decadeContinue reading “Chanel and the Occupation: Was Chanel a Spy or Wasn’t She?”
Chanel’s Critiques of Postwar Couture
The Rebel vs. the Revival Coco Chanel returned to fashion in 1954with fire in her voice and opinions sharper than her scissors. She had watched postwar couture from the sidelines andshe didn’t like what she saw, especially from Dior and the houses that embraced his voluptuous silhouettes. To Chanel, the New Look was a betrayal. She believed womenContinue reading “Chanel’s Critiques of Postwar Couture”
Balenciaga vs. Chanel: Two Opposite Definitions and Visions on Fashion
If Christian Dior and Balenciaga were respectful opposites, then Chanel and Balenciaga were something far more elemental, two poles of couture, two visions that differed, but their opposite definitions of their visions defined what fashion could be. After two decades of a friendship, Chanel did what Chanel does, she went to the press and spilledContinue reading “Balenciaga vs. Chanel: Two Opposite Definitions and Visions on Fashion”
