Coco: a legend

by Layla Tamer

Who was Coco Chanel? A visionary? An anthropologist? A Social Progressivist? Or just a Fashion Designer? It’s hard to fully understand who Coco Chanel was because she varied greatly between her given name “Chasnel” and her alias “Coco Chanel.” However we can trace her life from age 12 when her mother died of Tuberculosis. Her father left shortly after leaving her in the orphanage where she learned to sew as a seamstress for the nuns.

When she turned 18 she left the orphanage to work at a local tailor where she met rich French bachelor Étienne Balsan who immersed her in societal France. Some believe that because she was raised away from traditional French customs it helped her progress the Feminist Movement in France. In her designs she exposed the “fragile” designs of the gowns that elite women wore as brutal as the binding of feet in Asia and was recorded saying, In 1923 telling Harpers Bazaar “‘simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance’.” Coco always designed the clothing simply and comfortably while basing it around the women for which it was made. She stood alone in that she kept the woman inside the clothes at the center of her creations. “I gave women a sense of freedom; I gave them back their bodies: bodies that were drenched in sweat, due to fashion’s finery, lace, corsets, underclothes, padding,” she stated. Her design set a new era of fashion in the 1920′s such as the flapper.

She was the first designer to set aside the layers of coats, silks, and gowns for jersey, denim, and flappers. She encouraged self-confident young women to stand out by wearing pants and jersey and to question societies rules. In 1939, for the duration of WWII, Coco closed all of her shops. She plainly commented that, “it was not the time for fashion.” She lived alternately in the Hotel Ritz in Paris for over 30 years during the Nazi occupation. She was shunned by several fashionistas for having an affair with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a German officer and Nazi spy. She was both famous and infamous for her several affairs because she never married. When asked why she never married the Duke of Westminster she brazenly stated, “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel.”

Chanel died at Hotel Ritz in Paris on January 10 1971 at the age of 87. She was buried in Switzerland with lions on her tomb to represent her birth sign, Leo. Though she is dead she will always live on in our hearts, in every pair of jeans we wear, in every jersey we wear, in every bold statement that allows us to break free from the restraints of norms and customs and we will always remember the witty women who forever dared to hope.