It is no secret that we here at Trophyology are inspired by the House of Chanel. We are in love with the high quality, the level of innovation, and the attention to detail Chanel sets forward season after season, year after year. Chanel’s designs have walked the tight rope between fashion and style, between tradition and innovation, between classic and modern since its very start as a millinery shop in 1909. 104 years later, the House of Chanel looks back on a history, that has been, though not without controversy, consistent and impressive. We think it is fair to say that Mademoiselle Chanel has revolutionized fashion unlike any other designer of the era. We admire her greatly for that and think of her as a design icon of the modern age.
Chanel was the first designer to free women of corsets and to offer beautiful and comfortable clothing made from jersey in which one could play sports.
Chanel adopted men’s wear into new modern styles for women.
Chanel is responsible for the meteoric rise of ‘the little black dress’ (Black was not an acceptable color for women evening wear at the time. Nor were short dresses.)
Chanel No. 5 is to this day the single most successful perfume of all times.
Chanel designed an entirely new piece of wardrobe – the Chanel suit – the classic jacket and the knee-length skirt, evoking a powerful image of a classy, intelligent and independent modern woman.
German designer Karl Lagerfeld has lead the House of Chanel as lead designer since 1983, instilling his own legendary style while carrying on the elegant traditions of Mademoiselle Chanel.
We much enjoyed reading the biography about Coco Chanel by Justine Picardie (the amazing sketches on and in the book are by Karl Lagerfeld).
We leave you with our ten favorite quotes by Coco Chanel which give great insights in Mademoiselle’s views on life:
- “Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
- “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
- “Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.”
- “Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.”
- “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”
- “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”
- “There are people who have money and people who are rich.”
- “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”
- “Adornment, what a science! Beauty, what a weapon! Modesty, what elegance!”
- “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
