MacFormat España 17/MacFormat 17 (Spain)/MacFormat 17.bin/DATABASE/SHARED.DIR/01445_33.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 3.3 KB | 219 lines

@
Born into poverty
and orphaned at
an early age,
Gabrielle (Coco)
Chanel threw out
the tight stays
and frills of
the nineteenth
century, her
clothes reflecting
the emancipation
of women in the
twentieth cen-
tury. But despite
her glamorous
and flamboyant
image, her
private life hid
many dark and
sinister secrets
#
Chanel worked as
a milliner before
opening her first
boutique in fash-
ionable Deauville
in 1912. She
revolutionised
fashion design by
creating an outfit
teaming a man's
sweater with a
pleated skirt - for
the first time a
woman could be
both elegant and
comfortable
#
After the first
world war Coco
moved to Paris
and opened a
shop in Rue
Cambon, with the
financial help of
her lover, the
Duke of West-
minster. It was
ironic that
Coco - whose
designs symbol-
ized the new
mood of women's
emancipation -
relied on the help
of rich men to
further her career
#
"The dress must
fit the body,"
Chanel main-
tained,"not the
body distorted
to fit the dress."
Wearing Chanel's
low waistlines
and short skirts,
and with their
hair cut in boyish
bobs, the women
of the Twenties
took new strides
towards
emancipation
#
Chanel's influence
went way beyond
the wardrobe. In
1922 she gave
the world its
most popular
perfume - named
simply No.5 (her
lucky number).
By then, Coco
Chanel dominated
women's fashions
#
In the Thirties,
Coco was at the
height of her
fame. In her
apartment over
the shop in Rue
Cambon, she
entertained the
stars of Parisian
society, including
Igor Stravinsky,
Jean Cocteau and
Picasso. But there
was a more sini-
ster side to her:
she gave financial
support to a
fascist magazine
run by her lover,
Paul Iribe
@
In 1940 France
was invaded by
Nazi Germany
and Paris was
occupied. Coco
closed her maison
de couture, but
formed a close
relationship with
the German
authorities and
openly lived with
a German officer,
Hans Gunther von
Dincklage
#
When France was
liberated, those
who had collab-
orated with the
Nazis faced an
uncertain future
and Coco moved
to Switzerland.
In 1954 she staged
a come-back,
returning to Paris
with a new show.
But her designs
had not changed
since the Thirties
and fashion
writers were
scathing in their
criticism
#
Coco was saved
from oblivion by
America, whose
critics loved her
never-changing
designs.  By the
Fifties she had
regained her
pre-eminence.
But she remained
a controversial
figure often at
odds with the
fashion estab-
lishment, and
in 1957 she parted
with the powerful
Chambre Syndicale
de la Haute Couture
#
America lapped
up Chanel. Her
influence reached
new heights,
particularly after
the First Lady,
Jackie Kennedy,
began to be seen
frequently
wearing Chanel
outfits. In 1969
a musical based
on her life,
Coco, opened
on Broadway
#
Chanel's gift was
not only to the
women of the
Twenties but to
later generations
too. Her own style
scarcely evolved,
but it was possible
to trace an
unbroken line
from the fashions
of today, right
back to her first
bold creations
#
Over twenty
years after her
death, the House
of Chanel remains
one of the most
important fashion
houses in the
world. Whatever
the secrets of her
troubled private
life, the poverty-
stricken orphan
touched the lives
of millions of
women with the
casual, liberating
elegance of her
revolutionary
designs
@