
His perfumes included the perfume No.5, named after the number of the sample Chanel liked best. In 1921, to complement Chanel's clothing lines, Coco Chanel commissioned perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a perfume for La Maison Chanel. An example is the woolen Chanel suit – a knee-length skirt and a cardigan-style jacket, trimmed and decorated with black embroidery and gold-coloured buttons, often accessorized with two-tone pump shoes, a necklace of pearls, and a leather handbag. Chanel clothing often featured quilted fabric and leather trimmings the quilted construction reinforced the fabric, design, and finish, allowing the garment to maintain its form and function while worn. Chanel used colors traditionally associated with masculinity in Europe, such as grey and navy blue, to denote feminine boldness. 1890–1914), and the British Edwardian era (c. The simple-line, 'flat-chested' fashions Chanel couture made popular were opposite of the hourglass figure fashions of the late 19th century – the Belle Époque of France (c.
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Illustration of three women in Chanel day outfits consisting of belted tunic jackets and full jersey skirts, 1917Īfter the First World War, La Maison Chanel, following the fashion trends of the 1920s, produced beaded dresses made popular by Flapper women. The Chanel dress shop at 31 rue Cambon presented day-wear dress-and-coat ensembles of simple design, and black evening dresses trimmed with lace and tulle-fabric dresses decorated with jet, a minor gemstone material.

In 1915 and in 1917, Harper's Bazaar magazine reported that the garments of La Maison Chanel were "on the list of every buyer" for the clothing factories of Europe. She had 300 employees and even designed her first line of Haute Couture. In 1915, Chanel opened her very first Couture House in Biarritz, France. Sartorially, some of Chanel's designs derived from the military uniforms made prevalent by the War and, by 1915, the designs and the clothes produced by the House of Chanel were known throughout France. Among the clothes for sale were flannel blazers, straight-line skirts of linen, sailor blouses, long sweaters made of jersey fabric, and skirt-and-jacket suits.Ĭoco Chanel used jersey cloth because of its physical properties as a garment, such as its drape – how it falls upon and falls from the body of the woman – and how well it adapted to a simple garment-design. By that time, Chanel had opened a large dress shop at 31 Rue Cambon, near the Hôtel Ritz, in Paris. The First World War (1914–1918), affected European fashion through scarcity of materials, and the mobilisation of women. Two years later 1913, the Deauville and Biarritz couture shops of Coco Chanel offered for sale prêt-à-porter sports clothes for women, the practical designs of which allowed the wearer to play sports. Because that locale already housed a dress shop, the business-lease limited Chanel to selling only millinery products, not couture. In 1910, Boy Capel financed her first independent millinery shop, Chanel Modes, at 21 rue Cambon in Paris. In the course of those salons, Coco Chanel befriended Arthur "Boy" Capel, an English socialite and polo player friend of Étienne Balsan per the upper class social custom, Chanel also became mistress to Boy Capel. The actress Gabrielle Dorziat wearing a Chanel plumed hat (1912)Ĭoco Chanel thus could sell to them the hats she designed and made she thus earned a living independent of Balsan. Because the Balsan flat also was a salon for the French hunting and sporting élite, Chanel had the opportunity to meet their demi-mondaine mistresses who, as such, were women of fashion, upon whom the rich men displayed their wealth – as ornate clothes, jewellery, and hats. The House of Chanel originated in 1909, when Gabrielle Chanel opened a millinery shop at 160 Boulevard Malesherbes, the ground floor of the Parisian flat of the socialite and textile businessman Étienne Balsan, of whom she was the mistress.


History Coco Chanel Era Establishment and recognition (1909–1920s) Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1920 Chanel is credited for revolutionizing haute couture and ready-to-wear by replacing structured, corseted silhouettes with more functional garments that women still found flattering. It is privately owned by the Wertheimer family and has been headquartered in London since 2018.Ĭhanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel ( / ʃ ə ˈ n ɛ l/ shə- NEL, French: ( listen)) is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris.
