Coco and Karl
This is one of my favourite shots of the film, Audrey Tatou is photographed through the bannister rail on the stairs of Chanel’s atelier.Recently I watched the film Coco Avant Chanel again, and hugely enjoyed the documentaries on the DVD too. One of the things that struck me was how Coco Chanel did not like to show the knee – she found it inelegant. Karl Lagerfeld, on the other hand (or should that be leg?) is quite fond of revealing great swathes of bare thigh. Obviously one has to move with the times and all that, but I do wonder what she would think of Lagerfeld’s interpretation of her style.
More critically, Chanel’s raison d’être was comfort and ease of movement in women’s dress – this was in essence the very reason she began designing clothing. “I freed the body”, she said. Would she be shocked to see modern garments fashioned in her name that are as restrictive as Christian Dior’s New Look – of which she vehemently disapproved? This at least, most certainly.
Of course what is glimpsed on the runway is more outlandish – the better to capture the media’s attention – than what later comes forth from the atelier. I was therefore interested to rediscover this article from American Vogue* comparing Coco Chanel’s garments to Karl Lagerfeld’s. I am not a lover of the classic Chanel tweed suit (reeks too much of the bourgeoisie), but her 1928 satin gown with the asymmetrical hemline is divine, and the 1931 white lace gown is to die for. Lagerfeld’s golden tribute in 1996 is almost as good.
Click on the images for larger versions and have a read.
* Apologies, I am not sure which issue, although it is most likely 1996 as that is the most recent Chanel garment pictured
