February 19, 2019 - this was the day that we all lost one of the greatest fashion designers and creatives of our day: Karl Lagerfeld. It was an abrupt end to an era, a fashion pioneer and conductor of countless unforgettable design moments. February 19 also marked an end of Karl’s reign over the French fashion powerhouse, Chanel. Having been Chanel’s creative director since 1983, he certainly figured out the faultless formula of embedding Mademoiselle Coco Chanel’s touch as the label’s original founder and looking towards the future as a way of innovating while also continuing Chanel’s identity, signature and persona. As the new and current creative director of Chanel, Virginie Viard now has all eyes on her to see how she keeps this signature balance Chanel always has had figured out and of course see Virginie’s special touch while continuing this legacy under her unique direction.
How does one even begin to describe just how symbolic, quintessential and acclaimed Chanel is? I believe that it is greatly defined by the 3 most memorable creative directors Chanel has had: the brand’s founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the modern visionary Karl Lagerfeld, and the future of Chanel, Virginie Viard. Timeless, unmatched, and uncomplicated luxury - this has been what Chanel always stood for, even when these great minds added their own signatures to each of the luxury brand’s eras, threading into every garment their one-of-a-kind personalities.
Right now, the crown as Chanel’s prestigious Creative Director lies on Virginie Viard’s ingenious head, who Karl has dubbed her as his “right arm...and my left arm” since 1987. Impressing the traditionalists as well as the visionaries, Viard has been incorporating hints of Coco’s and Karl’s wildest dreams whilst also applying her romantic, nonchalant, and bohemian style in Chanel’s designs and visual approaches. Nonetheless, join me as I unveil the evolution of Chanel through Coco, Karl, and Virginie.
“Fashion fades, only style remains the same.” Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel lived and breathed by these words as Chanel blossomed into the perfect mirror of her quote. Fashion may change or simply vanish out of existence, but Chanel has always endured to remain being the timeless style icon it is known for being today.
Now, what is Chanel without Coco? Mademoiselle Coco has always been known for being charming, enchanting, romantic, daring, fearless and absolutely and unmistakably straightforward and honest in all she did. And with her fiery personality, it was thanks to one of her first wealthy beaus that she decided to be entertained by using her seamstress skills as a milliner. Chanel first opened its doors for sale on 21 rue Camdon as a hat boutique in 1910 but due to the fact that there was already a clothing boutique, legally Coco was first able to open a clothing boutique in Deauville in 1913. Fastidious with the waist-constraining, oxygen-depriving, and cupcake-like gowns that were more commonly worn during her time, Coco decided to create more relaxed silhouettes out of fabrics that at the time was only used for men’s underwear: jersey. This was only the beginning of Coco’s revolutionary designs. By 1915, Harper’s Bazaar was already raving about how effortlessly trendy and fresh her designs are, saying “ the woman who hasn't at least one Chanel is hopelessly out of fashion…”. By being inspired by her favorite leisurely activities, elements of horse culture, sailors, hunting, fishing, travelling, and yachting excursions, she included design elements in homage to these activities. Thanks to these passions, the trademark look of nautical elements, relaxed elegance, and globally inspired touches are still seen in Chanel’s designs and visual aesthetic DNA to this day. One could go on forever talking about all Coco has done with Chanel and all the things she innovatively created that left a mark in the fashion industry, but some of Chanel’s trademark looks that are still used today include the tweed Chanel Suit, the “little black dress”, the Chanel No. 5 fragrance, and The Chanel Bag among many.
Aware of what a woman wants and needs in her clothing, Coco made sure that Chanel represents a brand that provides comfortable and luxurious elegance for a woman that is ready to travel the world or work every day while looking impeccably fashionable. The Chanel suit still seen today is usually a 2-piece set made of freeing mohair tweed or a light wool with no shoulder pads, bust darts, or any other heavily structuring design element. Now, it must be mentioned that although Chanel is known for softer and more flexible silhouettes, it is also known for its incredible attention to detail and perfectly tailored fittings. Coco made sure that the fit was meticulously done and paralleled the movements of every activity she could think her clients might do. As for the little black dress, she of course again had the woman in her mind when she created the concept of a dress that is easy, simple, and the epitome of timeless elegance with just a...little black dress. Having at first seen as too simple and non-creative, Coco convinced the world surely of the power of a black dress, a blank canvas with endless possibilities. To this day, the little black dress is still in style and in use for any and every occasion. Just like Coco always looked for innovative ways to give effortless chicness to women and gained endless inspirations from her greatest travels, loves and more, Karl Lagerfeld took the reins after Coco Chanel passed away with Coco’s greatest passions in mind
Karl Lagerfeld: a limitless creator, fearless designer, and couture connoisseur - Karl has certainly left an enormous mark for Chanel, having brought Chanel’s breath back after years of downfall after Coco’s passing. With his extensive experience with other labels such as working closely with Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Balmain, and being creative director for renowned labels such as Valentino, Chloe and Fendi, Chanel hired Karl in 1983 to resuscitate the French brand back to its prestigious high peak placement in luxury fashion. According to Chanel’s website, Karl “brought life back into the Cruise collections, introduced the Métiers d'art and pre-collections, restored Haute Couture to its former glory, and created the CHANEL Ready-to-Wear collection as we know it today.”
He reintroduced Chanel into the modern world, daring himself to experiment in some ludicrous yet exquisitely memorable designs and visual elements until he found the perfect balance of yesterday and tomorrow. With Karl, Chanel transcended into the Chanel we know, love and wear today. He introduced a new era for Chanel with nouveau structures, color palettes and thematic design inspirations blended magnificently with Coco’s original design concepts. It was almost as if he designed with Coco’s soul in his and heard her every thought and idea.
One of the many design elements he is known for introducing to Chanel is an extension to Coco’s desire for paying attention to detail with the acquisition of Maison Desrues, being the first artistic craft house for Chanel. Since then, Karl expanded Chanel’s enchanting reach by introducing new fragrances like “Coco”, creating unforgettable Ready-To-Wear collections that always included elements inspired by Coco and modern design accents that became global trends, magical and other-worldly fashion show sets at the Grand Palais, massive marketing and advertising campaigns, and so so so much more. Karl Lagerfeld will forever be recognized as a fashion icon, one of the greats in the industry that will never be forgotten, and a creatively and passionately driven fashion aficionado that always blew us away with everything he did. He certainly had the Midas touch in his creations, and this certainly shaped Chanel and its new creative director, Virginie Viard.
The demure, poetic, and romantic right-hand (and left-hand) woman for Karl has been closely involved in the artistic direction of Chanel since 1987, soon being appointed Director of the Chanel Haute Couture Studio in 1997 and 1999 for the Ready-To-Wear Studio. She is certainly familiar with the label and is the rightful heir as Chanel’s new Creative Director. Many are excited to see Chanel through her eyes. Being Karl’s Yin to his Yang, she certainly has been showing a softer side of Chanel recently since she was appointed director. Although she is a bit shyer than Karl, she is quietly strong, tenacious, detailed, extremely intelligent and formidably creative - and this speaks very loudly in her amazing design concepts. The transition from Karl’s direction to Virginie’s has been very smooth due to her influence in Karl’s past collections. She would always remind him of Chanel’s more delicate side, thus creating the Chanel we know today as being flowingly feminine, inspiringly fresh, and idyllically romantic.
According to Chanel’s website, “Virginie Viard reinvents, collection after collection, an allure in which refinement is found in the simplicity and the excellence of the detail.” This has been evident in her collections, having introduced newly thematically inspired designs such as Coco’s library inspired Fall/Winter 2019 Couture collection, to the Fall/Winter Couture 2020 Punk inspired collection made for the eccentric, it-girls - both collections being hugely innovative for Chanel, especially having Punk elements which has surely never been seen before for the label. The airy sentimentality, refreshing designs, and dreamlike visual aesthetics, we are very thrilled to see what Virginie has in store for Chanel and the fashion industry as a whole in the future. It's a heavy burden being the head of such a legendary fashion label but Virginie Viard has been succeeding and impressing us with ease, leaving Chanel enthusiasts excited for the future and the fashion industry attentive to her every move as she directs Chanel, a brand that will forever be considered as a style leader and trendsetter for many.
