How Coco Chanel Broke the Rules

Being a woman in a male dominated world is hard enough… Being a woman in the fashion industry, which was and is still today dominated by men who dress women, has always been a challenge! Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel did not let that kind of restricted mentality intimidate or distract from her modern philosophy and innovation. Who knew that a woman, who grew up in an orphanage, rose by nuns, who also sang at a cabaret, could become such an influential mover and shaker in fashion history? She was a pioneer with radical ideas that changed the fashion industry altogether! Coco Chanel had arrived.

Coco Chanel is the classic example of a woman who broke the rules, especially for her time, and boy did she knock them down?! She disregarded the conventions of her time period and created her own fashion perspective. She created a world where luxury and comfort go hand-in-hand. This pioneer of fashion will have a long-lasting influence in fashion designs to come, because her style will always stand for what she believed in – simplicity and everlasting elegance.

How did Coco Chanel set herself apart? First of all, Coco Chanel had that certain je ne sais quoi. Secondly, she was smart, she utilized what she knew and what she observed as a young student and created that POW that would revolutionize the fashion industry of the 1920s. Women had to wear corsets and other confining garments, because they would accentuate a woman’s curves. Ouch! Chanel had the idea that comfort is a form of luxury and if the clothes weren’t comfortable, they weren’t luxurious. She understood the importance of luxury clothing, which she demonstrated through all the staples she had designed and revolutionized in this wild fashion pantheon.
Her aesthetic would become a lifestyle, a way of life, a way of dressing, a way of thinking: the Chanel way. Vacationing with her lover at the beach gave her the idea of using sailor stripes as a consistent element in her designs. Most importantly, she found inspiration in men’s clothing, like men’s shirts and pajamas and used those elements to create a more comfortable and luxurious way of dressing for women. Her first taste of success was attributed to a jersey dress that she had designed and worn on the streets, because it was cold in Deauville! That jersey dress had garnered her the attention that any person would hope for.

Her designs were simple, subtle and effortless. Elegance was always a constant design philosophy behind her clothes and her own personal style. This looser and more comfortable silhouette freed women from the corsets, this revolution helped create a new perspective and mentality. Chanel built a career that allowed her to voice her opinions through her designs. Women only wore dresses and corsets under dresses and were so confined they couldn’t move. Chanel figuratively and literally ripped apart the corset and allowed women to finally move within their clothing.
She was bold and vocalized her modern way of thinking through her clothes, yet her design aesthetic was so polished and subtle. In the history of fashion, she has trademarked countless staples that make her the influential designer she is, notably the tweed blazer and skirt, little black dress, two toned ballet flat, costume jewelry and quilted bag and chain strap. She found the simple elegance in the color black. Black was always associated with mourning, but Chanel saw the essence and chicness of black and created the little black dress – a staple of ‘20s French elegance. She was a revolutionary of the most highly coveted fashion pieces. Chanel understood what was chic and luxurious.





Film by Seiji Fujimori
Edited by Takeshi Fukunaga
Music by Ivan Barenboim
Styling : Aya Funakoshi
Hair : Takashi Matono
Make-up:  Lottie@Atelier Management
Model : Renata Sozzi@Marilyn
Graphic design : Ryoko Hotani
Thank you, Coco, for breaking the rules.




source : http://www.thegroundmag.com/