Design At Chanel example essay topic

CHANEL Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel was born in Sau mur, France in 1884. Vogue Magazine referred to her as "the couturier who takes no account of fashion, who pursues her own faultlessly elegant line in the quiet confidence that fashion will come back to her - and sure enough it always does". Chanel began designing heavily during the 1920's. Her first outfits were wool jerseys, and were very simple. She became famous for the simple look of her extremely classy outfits.

Chanel stayed away from the vivid colors of many of the other designers of the time. Instead, she used blacks, navy, and tan almost exclusively. Unlike many designers who primarily made dresses and suits, Chanel also designed jackets, hats, and costume jewelry. When presenting a show, she did not have to accessorize her models with designs from other houses.

Chanel designed well into the 1930's, but was forced to close her house during the years of World War Two. In 1954, she was able to reopen, and she designed until she died in 1971. Chanel was one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century with a non-conformist and classical streak. Coco designed the definitive women's suit, wore masculine clothes, sported a cropped haircut and flaunted a suntan when it was considered to be an symbol of the working class. In 1916, she outraged the fashion industry by using jersey at a time when it was strictly associated with underwear. Modernity and comfort were the key reasons why the classic Chanel suit -collarless, simply cut, trimmed with braid and with a discreet chain sewn into the hem - has transcended every single movement of the twentieth century.

Chanel had a disappointing love life and brittle personality. She criticized other designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga. The first Chanel shop was opened in Paris in 1914. When World War Two broke out, the salon on rue Cambon closed and Chanel went into exile. "I have always been copied by others. If a fashion isn't take up and worn by everybody, it's not fashion but an eccentricity, a fancy dress".

After Chanel's death in her apartment at the Ritz hotel in Paris in 1971, first her assistant designers, Gaston Bert helot and Ramon Espa rza, and then her assistant Yvonne Dude and Jean Casaubon designed the couture from 1975 until 1984. Philippe Guibourge became the ready-to-wear designer. Karl Lagerfeld took over haute couture design in 1983 and ready-to-wear in 1984. Karl Lagerfeld was born in Germany in 1938.

He was the designer who was able to turn around the Chanel label and bring it back to what Coco had made it out to be. No other designer could have handle it better. When he arrived at Chanel he reinvented the Chanel suit with endless changes and even doing things such as putting the double 'C' insignia on motorcycle boots and helmets. He cleverly added a sporty feel to the line with the Chanel signature and thus capturing a new generation of customers and fans. Lagerfeld was the best person to fill this job.

No one can handle fur as well as he can. He has a flair for irony and is a clever fabric experimentalist. The Chanel group is controlled by the Westheimer family through various investment holdings. Lagerfeld boasts that when he took over design at Chanel, fashion sales made up only 6% of total sales. Today he estimates more than 50% of total sales stem from fashion.