A Study on Modernism of Gabrielle Chanel - Focusing on her Fashion Business -

가브리엘 샤넬의 모더니즘 - 패션 비즈니스를 중심으로 -

  • Lee, Mi-Sook (Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, Ewha Womans University) ;
  • Cho, Kyu-Hwa (Dept. of Clothing and Textiles, Ewha Womans University)
  • 이미숙 (이화여자대학교대학원 의류직물학과) ;
  • 조규화 (이호여자대학교 의류직물학과)
  • Published : 1997.10.31

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate Modernism of Gabrielle Chanel in respect to her fashion business. Chanel always considered the work of a fashion designer 'a technique, a craft, a trade' and chastised couturiers who looked upon themselves as artists. She was the first to cater to the public in its broader sense and to produce standard which appealed to every taste, the first to democratize the art of dressmaking for purely economic reasons. The results were as follows; 1. Chanel personified ~his new spirit of independence and evolved a style of dress for the modern, liberated woman. 2. Chanel excelled at fabrics, their interpretation, and an ability to use them. She had taken a humble material, one that was used by men and that they had shunned, and turned it into a fashionable fabric. In the process she also accelerated the growth of the ready-to-wear industry for it was a fabric within the financial reach of the majority of woman who wanted to dress fashionably but were not well off. 3. Chanel thought black chic and would never go out of fashion. As American Vogue for 1 October 1926 prognosticated, her little black dress became a kind of uniform. 4. Chanel represented an exception among couturiers because she was flattered that her styles were so popular and widely copied. She believed that her style would be affirmed by high-street copies-after all, copying is the sincerest form of flattery. 5. Chanel changed the concept of costume jewellery. It was not an original idea of Chanel's. Whereas Poiret had pioneered the original idea of costume jewellery, it was Chanel's avant-garde way with it not to mention her usual deceptive simplicity and supreme artistry that made costume jewellery evolve a successful and lucrative part of the fashion industry.

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