ALEXANDER MCQUEEN

Alexander McQueen 

"Give me time," British designer Lee Alexander McQueen once declared, "and I'll give you a revolution". And indeed, the birth of the Alexander McQueen brand in 1992 and the effects of Lee McQueen on the world of fashion was nothing short of a revolution. In terms of avant-garde fashion and showmanship, it does not get more dramatic than what McQueen accomplished. Vogue magazine reported in 1999 that “The McQueen experience tapped into a whole new range of emotions and psychoses”. His designs and his shows were nightmarish fantasies that for the first time in fashion history, put audience members on the edge of their seats in shock and even fear. Alexander McQueen shows raised to new heights the theatrics of fashion and the man behind it all goes down in history as an artist truly one of its kind.

The most defining element of the Alexander McQueen brand during the founder's time, was without a doubt the fashion show itself. Lee McQueen told Women's Wear Daily that he was going to take the world on journeys that it never dreamed were possible. His shows were works of theatre and there was absolutely nothing that he did not try, from shows that addressed the abuses suffered by his Scottish ancestors, to models braving rain, snow, fire, ice, or flying dangerously close to a bed of nails. In his Fall 2003 show, McQueen was inspired by a nomad's journey into the tundra, and his models walked inside a torrential wind tunnel wearing hand-painted silk and chiffon fabric, some stretching over 20 feet, that billowed behind them. For Spring 2001 Ready-To-Wear, the audience sat around a mirrored cube that when lit, was revealed to be a mental hospital cell. The models were transformed into patients, creepily dancing their way out. For the finale, the walls of another glass cube shattered open, revealing a nude woman, her face covered by a mask, breathing through a tube, and surrounded by fluttering moths. His models were transformed into human canvases, spray-painted for the finale, hologram images, human chess pieces, and the list goes on and on. Lee McQueen made his surreal visions into reality on the runway, pushed the boundaries, and transformed forever the meaning of a fashion show.

Yet even when all the theatrics of the show were taken away, McQueen's clothing themselves were fantastical creations. He pushed the limit on what was technically possible to make. His designs were extraordinary demonstrations of craftsmanship that had a gothic, regal undertone. His clothing often featured exquisite details and yet were always grounded by traditional, British roots. The Fall 2010 Alexander McQueen collection was a perfect encapsulation of the designer's work, and also a poignant reflection of his life. The collection was finalized by McQueen's team in the aftermath of the designer's shocking suicide. The collection was inspired by the art of the Dark Ages, and possessed a poetic, medieval feel. The final look of the show, a high-collared, form-fitting jacket made completely of golden feathers, captured the essence of McQueen's designs: his tailoring and his romanticism.

Fall 2010 Ready-To-Wear

Sarah Burton  

After Lee McQueen's unpredictable death, it was unsure who would be able to succeed him. The truth was that nobody could do what he did. For months his successor remained unnamed, and it was quite frankly unknown whether the brand would be able to continue on. And yet beginning from 2010, Sarah Burton, McQueen's right hand for over 14 years, took over the reigns in an effort to continue on her mentor's spirit. Since then, Burton has delivered her own, gentler take on the brand whilst retaining its fundamental roots. The mad theatrics on the runway have pretty much disappeared, and the clothes have become more wearable, perhaps more suited to today's society. Yet Burton keeps alive the romanticism of Alexander McQueen and particularly pushes the British elements of the brand.


For Resort 2013, Burton delivered exceptional tailoring and an example of her much softer, more feminine touch. There were powerful trouser suits softened by beautiful embroidery and embellishments, all completely wearable and consumer-friendly. For Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear, Sarah Burton emphasized the regal, religious themes of the Alexander McQueen brand with painstakingly embroidered gowns. Overall, Sarah Burton has stripped the brand down to its most defining elements, and produced the modern take on Alexander McQueen.

Resort 2013

 

 

Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear

YVES SAINT LAURENT

Yves Saint Laurent 

"Chanel freed women, and I empowered them", the mythical designer, dubbed one of the most important fashion figures of the second half of the 20th century, once said of himself. Indeed, like Coco Chanel's game-changing designs one generation earlier, when he opened his namesake brand in 1961, Yves Saint Laurent bent the rules and created the wardrobe of the contemporary woman. His legacy immediately evokes a sense of duality and the image of a worldly, powerful woman, completely in tune with social moods, perhaps leading a double life. He gave the fashion world gender-bending sophistication and encapsulated the culture of the 1960s in his clothes. His clothes came to reflect the designer's own rebellious, controversial lifestyle, and the spirit of youthfulness and modernity during his time. The culture that Saint Laurent propagated and numerous elements of his designs were absorbed into the mainstream of fashion and lived on to have an everlasting influence.  

After Yves Saint Laurent opened his own atelier, the clothes he made were steeped in the culture and the arts of the 1960s. The designer debuted several colour-blocked wool shift dresses in 1965 infamously known as the Mondrian shifts, inspired by paintings of Piet Mondrian. The dresses were widely embraced by buyers and manufacturers, particularly in America, and became one of the most copied designs in the world (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Yves_Saint_Laurent_(Brand)). Saint Laurent also did dresses influenced by Andy Warhol's pop art, featuring designs of lips and hearts. The designer believed that the trend of fashion pointed toward youthfulness and worldliness, and his work very much reflected that belief. He explored the elements of different parts of the world, including peasant blouses and military trench coats from Marrakech and Russia, appropriated and elevated them in his own clothes. Yet when thinking of Yves Saint Laurent, perhaps his most influential and at the time, scandalous work came from his adopting of menswear for women. In 1966, his creation of the le smoking suit put women in a full on tuxedo pantsuit. He paired the look with stilettos and fedoras, and it ironically highlighted the sensuous side of a woman's femininity. The look was empowering, and attracted a throng of powerful, unconventional women to the brand, who all came to define the Yves Saint Laurent woman. 

Also in 1966, Yves Saint Laurent opened his Rive Gauche prêt-à-porter, or ready-to-wear, boutique that sold his designs directly to the public. It was the first mass-produced ready-to-wear line by a couturier (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Yves_Saint_Laurent_(Brand)). The line set the brand apart from couture and from the bourgeois spirit, and cemented its focus on modernity and on the youth.  

Yves Saint Laurent not only made himself into a brand and his brand an empire, but he also propagated a frenzy that became a kind of culture. “It was a glamorous, sensual era when there were no barriers and no limits,” recalled designer Christian Lacroix, a student during the time, and the women all dressed in Saint Laurent. And particularly for the designer, it was a time of drama, and of ups and downs, as the wild, carefree lifestyle he promoted was matched on the other end by great emotional turmoils, and spiraling depression. 

YSL Mondrian shift dresses

YSL le smoking pantsuit

 

Stefano Pilati 

A successor of the Yves Saint Laurent empire needs not only to be able to interpret the fashion house's historical archives, but also the culture and spirit of the clothes. After attempts from Alber Elbaz and Tom Ford, Italian designer Stefano Pilati tried his take on the brand in 2004. Toward the beginning of the career, he did indeed create rather influential shapes, and steered the brand toward a much more grown-up, mature direction. His version of the tulip skirt trickled down to affect many other designers, and he brought out much of the bright colours and colour-blocking from Yves Saint Laurent history. His designs of body-enhancing, ruffled dresses and his use of leopard print embodied the much more mature, "hypersexed" direction he took the brand. The gold, overlapping YSL logo blazed clear during Pilati's era, and the brand's commercialism was reflected in the success of brand's accessories business, particularly of handbags and shoes. Although Stefano Pilati experienced several successes at Yves Saint Laurent, his work toward the end of his time became much more confusing and lacking in a clear direction with too much going on, all of which his predecessor would eliminate with a few clear, drastic strokes.

Hedi Slimane 

When Hedi Slimane came on as the artistic director for Yves Saint Laurent in 2012, the fashion house was in for a huge change and revamp, beginning from the most literal and controversial sense. Slimane sent the world a message loud and clear that things were going to be different when at the very beginning of his time, the house of Yves Saint Laurent became just Saint Laurent Paris. The blazing YSL logo emblazoned everywhere was no more, and in its place were three tiny, discreet words. What followed was great public outcry, but also one of the most dramatic streamlining of a fashion house and more importantly, a brand, ever to be done before. Slimane's designs for Saint Laurent became a full embodiment of his own very specific history, culture and lifestyle. He reworked the fashion house as a brand, targeted and settled into an extremely distinct place in the fashion world.


Before his current role at Saint Laurent, Hedi Slimane had already made a name for himself at Saint Laurent menswear, and Dior Homme, Dior's mens line. He was a sensation in the early 2000s, and made the fashion press awe-struck with his "blade-slim, blackened silhouettes" (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Hedi_Slimane) dubbed "the slender Slimane look". It was exactly this history and talent with menswear that Slimane brought with him to head up Saint Laurent in 2012, that gave him an edge and also a special connection with the history of Yves Saint Laurent. In addition, his own lifestyle and culture have a heavy influence on the aesthetic changes that he brought to the house. Saint Laurent's designs have been heavily influenced by music, musicians, with whom Slimane himself often spends time with and is most inspired by, as well as the lifestyle that goes along with it all. He brought a retro, rocker-inspired style to the brand, and also placed a special emphasis on androgyny. He has persistently delivered simple, pared down designs, looks that do not necessarily feel new in any way, but rather feel like the best versions of items that consumers already know they love. For his debut Spring 2013 Ready-To-Wear collection, clearly certain connections to the traditional Yves Saint Laurent could be seen, yet the show channelled a sixties or seventies rocker theme, as well as a deeply gothic tinge inspired by the city of Los Angeles and its youth. For Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear, Slimane delivered"California grunge", and thus cementing the image of the new Saint Laurent woman and the Saint Laurent brand.

It seems that Hedi Slimane's streamlining of the Yves Saint Laurent name says it all. He took something that was really all over the place, and stripped it down to have a very specific focus. The woman who Slimane is designing for and the one he is selling to, there is no doubt about who she is. Also with his relocating of the Saint Laurent headquarters to Los Angeles, he makes very clear both his artistic and business direction for the brand. It comes as no surprise that Saint Laurent has been doing exceptionally well commercially under Slimane's lead, for what he accomplished was a smart re-branding, and a smart business move.

 Spring 2013 Ready-To-Wear

Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear

 

BALENCIAGA

Cristóbal Balenciaga 

"Haute couture is like an orchestra, whose conductor is Balenciaga" (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Balenciaga). And indeed, in the world of Parisian fashion postwar, the Spanish designer Cristóbal Balenciaga led the pack and was undoubtedly named the king of dressmakers. Even Coco Chanel described him as a couturier "in the truest sense of the word", the only one who was capable of "cutting material, assembling a creation, and sewing it by hand". After founding the house of Balenciaga in 1918, he churned out designs heavily inspired by Spain and its arts that became immediate successes, and were highly sought after by royals and aristocrats to fulfill their needs year-round. He was the master of creating new shapes, with an unparalleled list of innovations. This spirit of innovation and of setting trends rather than following them would come to define the house of Balenciaga, and set it apart in the fashion world. 

After Balenciaga moved his company from Spain to Paris in 1936, his debut collection showcased much of the designer's Spanish roots and culture. The collection was heavily influenced by the Spanish Renaissance, with Balenciaga interpreting many historical styles. He created "infanta" gowns inspired by the costumes of young Spanish princesses from the paintings of Diego Velázquez, as well as ornamented jackets inspired by ones traditionally worn by Spanish toreadors in the bullfighting ring (http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/bale/hd_bale.htm). Photographer Cecil Beaton described his clothing as a combination of "the refinement of France and the strength of Spain". Yet perhaps Cristóbal Balenciaga's greatest genius lay in his pioneering spirits and the completely new silhouettes that he debuted for womenswear. He favoured fluid lines that gave him much freedom over the shapes of his clothing in relation to a woman's body. His innovative creations included his square coat, his balloon jacket in 1953, his high-waisted baby doll dress in 1957, his draped cocoon coat, and balloon skirt. He also debuted semifitted suits that were tailored in the front and loose in the back, truly placing Balenciaga at the absolute frontline, leading a revolution in women's fashion. He played around with waistlines with grace and ease, dropping it then raising it with no concern of where the natural waistline fell. In 1957 and 1958, he essentially got rid of waistlines altogether with his sack and chemise dress, neither of which had a perceivable waist. The new shape completely shattered the traditional silhouettes of womenswear, and took the fashion world by storm. Balenciaga's designs were marked by fluidity, impeccable skill and tailoring combined with innovative shapes and the most surprising of elements. His contributions to the world of fashion were innumerable, and his legacy and spirit would live on, but would take almost 30 years to be revived again in the house of Balenciaga.

Nicolas Ghesquiére 

After Cristóbal Balenciaga's retirement in 1968, the legendary couturier was impossible to replace for decades and decades. The fashion house was unable to be raised back to its heights, until in 1977, a relatively unknown, 25 year old french designer was appointed artistic director. Suzy Menkes from the International Herald Tribune declared that Nicolas Ghesquiére was the most "intriguing and original designer of his generation". And there could not have been another designer better fit for the role at Balenciaga. Inspired by all the extreme parts of Balenciaga's work, Ghesquiére brought his own futuristic, abstract, and above all innovative touch to the fashion house, all of which were also perfectly aligned with the founder's spirit. It was almost as if the great couturier had lived on to create new things through Ghesquiére. Ghesquiére's work was at once completely original and his own, and yet at the same time married to the style of Balenciaga, and what it represented. He single-handedly built the modern reputation of the brand, taking it once again to soaring popularity with some of the most widely imitated designs in the industry.

Ghesquiére's work was widely renowned for its precision fit, and more importantly, its experiments with the cutting-edge and avant-garde. He was fearless and explored all types of unexpected shapes, volumes, textures and fabrics. He played with elements that were almost sci-fi and took full advantage of modern technology to create his designs. In his Spring 2009 Ready-To-Wear show he showed a series of fine, metallic crinkle-pleated jackets and finale dresses cut in iridescent colours that resembled solar panels. For Spring 2012 Ready-To-Wear, he showed spongy colour-blocked jackets with exaggerated shoulders, swirling, abstract prints, and patchworked dresses with ballooning backs that really pushed the silhouette. Ghesquiére adopted the innovative spirit of Balenciaga, churning out new concepts after new concepts, and once again brought the house of Balenciaga the absolute forefront of fashion.

Spring 2009 Ready-To-Wear

Spring 2012 Ready-To-Wear 

 

Alexander Wang

Unfortunately, even the perfect union of Ghesquiére and Balenciaga would not last. After 15 years at the brand, it was suddenly announced that Ghesquiére would be succeeded by the 28 year old American designer Alexander Wang, a move that seemed unexpected and even inappropriate. No one was sure how Wang, famous for his takes on sportswear and slouchy T-shirts at his own brand, could handle the reigns at the legendary powerhouse. With only a few collections at Balenciaga under his belt, it seems that even though Ghesquiére's relentless innovation is clearly missing, Wang has a good feel for a more classical Balenciaga tinged with some of his signature, contemporary style.

At his Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear debut collection for Balenciaga, Wang appeared to have done a successful, sleek homage to the brand's roots, and even infused edgier elements such marble prints and cracked patterns on the clothing. By his Spring 2014 Ready-To-Wear, he found more of his own footing, injecting ease and wearability into the house's codes. He showed well-executed sporty streetswear as well as easy, elegant evening pieces. Overall, the future of Alexander Wang for Balenciaga seems to lie in the more American kind of wearability that Wang is no doubt comfortable with, and that will perhaps open the brand up to a broader market.

Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear

Spring 2014 Ready-To-Wear

 

GIVENCHY

 Hubert De Givenchy 

“Six-feet-six-inches tall—handsomer than almost any movie star,” (Vogue 1966), the young nobleman Hubert De Givenchy was the embodiment of grace and elegance in the purest form. It was with this kind of air/dignity that a 24 year old Givenchy opened his fashion house in 1952, and that he remained devoted to throughout his career. While Givenchy did introduce several new shapes to fashion, the storied parisian fashion house under the hand of its founder was an austere religion that never veered from its classical roots. 

During Hubert de Givenchy's time, he did indeed bring new concepts and ideas that dazzled his upper crust clients and would pave out future paths in fashion. His debut collection introduced the fresh new concept of couture separates, evening gowns with bodices and skirts that women could mix-and-match (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Hubert_de_Givenchy), including the crisp white Bettina blouse (http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/2013/02/fashion-birthday-hubert-de-givenchy.html). The idea gave a woman more freedom to express her individuality and was a fresh take on the traditional gowns of couture. The collection was highlighted by Vogue magazine as "one of the most news-worthy happenings in Paris this spring." During his golden years in the late 1950s, Givenchy, with inspiration from his Spanish mentor Cristóbal Balenciaga, was also accredited with the design of the sack dress. The dress was formless, waistless and narrowed down significantly at the hem. The design was freeing for a woman from cinches at the waist, and was praised for its air of mystery. Whatever innovation Givenchy brought to the world of fashion, the fundamental spirit behind his clothes remained consistent, and this tradition dominated the fashion house's initial reputation.  

The Givenchy under its founder was completely defined by its ladylike, elegant haute couture designs that catered to the very elite. The fashion house was known for its beautifully crafted, understated day suits and evening dresses that made "anyone from anywhere look like a lady" (fashion critic Hebe Dorsey). Famous for working in a white lab coat, the aristocratic Hubert de Givenchy was a firm believer of quality over quantity, and also believed that the point of his clothes was to make a woman more beautiful. The Givenchy woman was best embodied by the designer's ultimate muse, Audrey Hepburn, whose relationship with the fashion house goes down in history as one of the most notorious designer-muse relationships. Givenchy helped mold the actress' career, and the image of the fashion house those times would be forever linked with Audrey Hepburn. More specifically, the image of Holly Golightly in her black column dress with its distinctive crescent-shaped back, Givenchy's most infamous design. At the time, Vogue commented on their relationship that “what fires his imagination races hers; the message he cuts into cloth she beams to the world with the special wit and stylishness of a great star.” (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Hubert_de_Givenchy) Indeed through that relationship, a very realistic kind of class and elegance was given to people. The glamour of fashion was made to seem more attainable and achievable in a day to day sense. The same traditional spirit that Hubert de Givenchy founded his house on, the couturier followed through with for the four decades of his career. Even as times began to change and his haute couture creations seemed underwhelming and out of touch for critics and consumers, Hubert de Givenchy would staunchly defend his position. The Givenchy of those times, the original Givenchy, was so firmly devoted to a certain identity, that neither the designer himself nor the fashion world would be able to predict the direction that the house would take. 

                                       

After Hubert de Givenchy was pushed to retirement in 1995, the fashion house saw numerous successors: John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Julien MacDonald. Each designer made desperate attempts to keep the brand alive, and yet McQueen's aggressiveness or MacDonald's vulgarity neither maintained Givenchy's spirit nor renewed it. The house fell into a crisis and the fashion world was more confused than anything. It was unclear what these designers were selling and more importantly, who the Givenchy woman had become. And so, when a shy, young Italian with no experience in couture was brought on in 2005, the fashion world was both shocked and eager to see what would come next.

Riccardo Tisci 

The modern, 21st century Givenchy bears so little resemblance to the original, that it seems almost impossible that the two are the same house and share the same name. Riccardo Tisci is the man who did that. When he initially struggled to bridge the gap between himself and the Givenchy clad, white-gloved Audrey Hepburn, he found his solution by essentially severing all ties. He turned his attention onto what he knew how to do, and onto himself, in a plaid shirt and sneakers. Under Tisci's hand, Givenchy turned towards the streets and towards a darkly romantic, gothic/melancholic mood. The Givenchy of today is just as instantly recognizable as the original, albeit in a starkly different way, and fills its own, special niche in the world of fashion. 

 At Givenchy, he turned for inspiration to "the energy, freshness and fast rhythm of the streets", a move perfectly aligned with modern society that led the house of Givenchy to make to its firm mark in the 21st Century. Tisci glamorized typical pieces of streetwear, including bomber jackets and sweatshirts, and the fashion world has never quite been the same. He aided the modern movement of fashion towards a casual, relaxed, sportswear influenced style. Givenchy's infamous Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear collection earned reviews that began with a simple "Outstanding" from Women's Wear Daily, and a "Just Beautiful." from Style.com. With Anthony Hergarty's "You Are My Sister" in the background as a tribute to Tisci's many sisters and a dim, circular runway, the show "gave you goose bumps" and was Tisci at his most personal and romantic, according to Nicole Phelps of Style.com. The show perfectly encapsulated his darkly romantic twist on street style. "No one is more responsible for fashion's current fixation on the sweatshirt than Tisci", and he showed sweatshirts with his signature, provocative prints, cinched in at the waist, paired with sheer, glittering skirts and snakeskin boots. He takes casual, "everyday" pieces and adds his own unique touch of sensuality and chillingly beautiful moodiness. The designer is renowned for his dark, melancholic and quite frankly gothic designs, which he frequently brings to life through his infamous use of prints. For Resort 2013, Tisci played with gypsyish scarf prints, swirling paisleys with geometric blocks of black and white. The prints were contrasted with capelike looks and simple pieces of jackets and tops that had an architectural sharpness. He has made a name for Givenchy to be associated with certain motifs that he frequently weaves into his collections, including panthers, rottweilers, and shark tooth. Tisci flaunts his play on masculinity and femininity, on casual simplicity and ornamentation. And perhaps most fittingly, his lookbook collections are almost always shot with the average city street as the backdrop, complete with dirty, graffitied walls, trucks, and random pedestrians. Even when Tisci exercises restraint with prints and does something different, his dark sensual take on casual wear is clearly recognizable. His Spring 2014 Ready-To-Wear collection, influenced by a "crash" of Japanese and African culture, showcased a different Givenchy with draped dresses. Yet the casualness of the draping and models gliding out on flat sandals paired with glittering, crystal face masks and a somber atmosphere, Tisci's Givenchy is still very clearly present. 

Fall 2013 Ready-To-Wear

                        

Resort 2013

SS12 ad campaign

Spring 2014 Ready-To-Wear

Clearly, the beginning of Riccardo Tisci's legacy at Givenchy involved an almost complete overturning of the fashion house's past. And of course, this happened not without cries of outrage of what the historic Givenchy had become. Tisci's fondness of streetwear at times brought out complaints that the fashion house that once stood for aristocratic class had turned into a glorified T-shirt company. Yet those who thought streetwear was all Tisci could do had another thing coming for them. The young Italian designer has transformed modern Givenchy to stand out for not only his take on casual wear, but also for exquisite, almost avant-garde haute couture. Indeed, the same man who likes to show sweatshirts on his runways has also demonstrated his capabilities and tendencies toward haute couture of immense artistry and extravagance. He has proven that he shares the skills and the intense vision necessary for haute couture along with many of the greatest couturiers in history. Riccardo Tisci's couture designs are always breath-taking works of art that involve intense, elaborate, and painstakingly detailed embellishments and ornamentations. His Fall 2010 and 2011 couture collections, which he chose to show in intimate presentations to highlight details, were great demonstrations of his elaborate designs and handiwork. In the 2010 presentation, everything was white, flesh-toned or gold, with a salon dedicated to each shade. Tisci showed a dress in Chantilly lace that ended in a cascade of dégradé ostrich feathers, a patchworked leather coat, lace catsuits decorated with a Swarovski crystal skeleton that had been labored over for 1600 hours, and more lace dresses that required over six months to create (http://www.style.com/fashionshows/review/F2010CTR-GIVENCHY).

Fall 2010 Couture

CHANEL

The house of Chanel and its legacy needs no introduction.

Behind the interlocking Cs, lies one of the most historical and influential parisian fashion houses since its founding in 1909. From within Chanel rose titans of the fashion industry, designers like Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, who completely changed the course of fashion, womenswear, and the entire idea of femininity. Although what Chanel evokes may be class and tradition, a tweed jacket and a string of pearls, if Lagerfeld's most recent show set in a giant supermarket is any indication, clearly Chanel is also at the frontline, pushing the limits in today's world. In tracing the fashion house back to its early days, it is clear that from the very beginning, Chanel somehow firmly guarded tradition while breaking the boundaries of fashion.

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

In 1910, an orphaned cabaret singer and part-time seamstress opened up her first shop on 21 Rue Cambon, Paris, and soon 20th century women's fashion would be transformed completely, and the Chanel powerhouse would be born. During a time of excessive style, women in tight corsets, over-the-top gowns and multi-coloured, feathered headpieces, Coco Chanel was something entirely different. Abandoning the corset, opting for simple colours and very often men's suits, Chanel's own style, her own instinct and confidence were the initial inspiration behind the Chanel fashion house. She brought her modernist philosophy to the clothes she made, and famously declared that she "freed the body". Indeed, she changed the way women dressed and introduced key waves of style and pieces of clothing that became immortalized and were forever engrained into women's fashion.

Coco Chanel's refreshingly unfussed, simple design aesthetic was a breath of fresh air. She gave women "chic sensibility", both what they wanted and needed. Chanel tossed out the constricting corsets, and the over-embellishments of the Belle Époque fashion that had dominated. One of her very first marks of change and influence was her revolutionary choice of fabrics. Her first taste of clothing success originated from a dress she had fashioned on a chilly day out of old jersey, a fabric utilized for the first time for womenswear by Chanel, that would later also become a Chanel staple. Jersey had previously only been used for men's underwear, and yet it was ideal for Chanel for its low costs, simplicity, and practicality. Jersey was comfortable and women could move in it. Coco Chanel liberated women and introduced a new wave of style that came to define how modern women dress. One where opulence and comfort went hand in hand, and one characterized by hidden luxury and demure sophistication.

Coco Chanel powered on through the 1920s as a force to be reckoned with, giving birth during this time to some of the most iconic and immortal designs in fashion history. Another pioneering element of Chanel's designs was her "borrowing from the boys", or her mixture of menswear with womenswear. She put women in wide-legged pants, cardigans and turtlenecks with a boyish charm (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Chanel). From this menswear inspiration came the infamous Chanel suit in 1925. The suit consisted of a collarless, boxy wool jacket with a braid trim and metallic embellished buttons, as well as a matching, slimline skirt (http://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/2013/09/seven-wonders-how-coco-chanel-changed-the-course-of-womens-fashion/). Chanel's suit was the perfect choice for women in the workplace, and became an international sensation that spread to Hollywood royalties like Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn, and even Jacqueline Kennedy. The suit would become a timeless element and part of the definition of the Chanel brand up to this day.

Coco Chanel in the classic Chanel suit 

Women all in Coco Chanel's designs

During the same time, Coco Chanel also popularized a much more muted and sophisticated colour palette for women's clothing, including colours like black, white and beige, which contrasted drastically with the obnoxiously loud colours and patterns that had previously been popular. In particular, she recognized the sophistication of the colour black, that had previously only been associated with mourning. Her design of the little black dress in 1926, a dress that was appropriate for both daytime and evenings that could also easily be dressed up for more formal occasions, became an absolute essential in every woman's wardrobe. When Chanel published the dress in American Vogue at the time, the magazine called the piece "Chanel's Ford", likening it to the car for its accessibility to women of all social classes, and predicting that it would become a "uniform" for upcoming generations. Indeed, the piece, like many other elements of Chanel's designs, has withstood the tests of time and trends that come and go, retaining its influence on women's fashion.

A version of Chanel's little black dress 

A sketch of Chanel's black dress, published by Vogue magazine in 1926 and labelled "a frock all the world would wear"

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel gave the world the modern woman, and along with it a new way of life and a new way of thinking about femininity. Yet in the ephemeral world of fashion, the times would eventually catch up with even Chanel's legacy. By the 1960s, Chanel seemed to have lost its clout amongst the generation of jeans and mini-skirt wearers (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Karl_Lagerfeld). The brand would fall through the hands of dozens of different designers, each lasting no more than one or two years, until it would reach someone who could revitalize it. Karl Lagerfeld later recalled his friends' advice to decline the creative director position at Chanel: “Everybody said, ‘Don’t touch it, it’s dead, it will never come back.’ But by then I thought it was a challenge.” (http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Karl_Lagerfeld)

Karl Lagerfeld 

In 1983, a German born Karl Lagerfeld took over the reigns at Chanel. His debut collection failed to ignite the audience, and came off badly in every detail in comparison to Coco Chanel's designs. From that attempt, it became obvious for Lagerfeld that the purely homage technique was never going to work. It was not more knowledge of Chanel's past that he needed, and more importantly, that was not where the future of fashion lay ("The Beautiful Fall"). Lagerfeld needed an entirely new approach. And he would take on a new approach to single-handedly revitalize and reinvent the legend of Chanel, and become one of the most influential and respected designers to this day. As one of the last traditional couturiers and yet with a mind of youthfulness, he brought exactly this balance to the brand. Lagerfeld skillfully injected Chanel with a dose of the present moment and with commercial youthfulness, all the while never losing touch with Chanel's defining, trademark elements. He cultivated the image of Chanel and the hype, one that firmly holds onto its past while always staying aligned with the fast-paced society.

Lagerfeld added complexity to the story of Chanel. He recognized and played with the traditional elements of the brand that were uniquely its own and that could withstand the tests of time: the tweed suits, little back dresses, pearls and camelias. Yet what he added to the mix was a youthful, modern aesthetic that opened up the brand to appeal to a much wider range of audience. His genius lies in the fact that every time you think he goes too far, Lagerfeld always brings Chanel back to home and you realize that in actuality, the echoes of Coco are not too far off at all. He gives us traditional Chanel mixed with the most modern of elements, and all executed with complexity, artistry and extravagance. In the Spring 2014 Couture show, calming music drifted out from a live orchestra of violins and a piano, and a sleek white stage revolved around to reveal bare staircases. Models skipped down the stairs, twirling for the audience with graceful, light movements. The show was like a breath of fresh air, and showcased the balance that Lagerfeld strikes between tradition and modernity. He did classic Chanel dresses and haute couture gowns in an array of light, spring colours, paired with shimmering sneakers and at times even elbow and knee pads. When he took the fashion world to a full-blown art show in the Spring 2014 Ready To Wear show, he gave us the quintessential Chanel suits and black dresses in jersey, paired with dramatically oversized pearls and a messy, artist grunge feel as if the models had just emerged from an art studio with smears of paint all over them. Lagerfeld takes traditional elements and excruciatingly complex designs that have been labored over, and makes them all seem fresh and easy. He has found his way of making ready-to-wear and even haute couture completely modern, and has kept the long-standing fashion house relevant throughout the 20th and 21st century.

Chanel Spring 2014 Couture

                                            Chanel Spring 2014 Couture

Chanel Spring 2014 RTW

                                                 Chanel Spring 2014 RTW

In addition, with a Chanel show, the idea behind the show and the actual set are just as important as the clothing itself. A Chanel show is a monumental event, an experience for the mind, for all the senses, a journey, and undoubtedly a different one every time. With every show, Lagerfeld shows that he is the king of reinvention and change, a man "always exploring" (André Leon Talley of Vogue). He is able to stretch the Chanel fabric in every imaginable way, and always incorporates an unpredictably new concept or part of the world into his designs. This is the man who has done Chanel shows with models emerging from a gigantic iceberg, from towering crystalline quartz statues, from a massive, golden lion sculpture, and from a glittering globe, just to name a few. Indeed, there has even been the very recent Chanel Fall 2014 Ready To Wear show, inside a life-sized supermarket, complete with aisles and aisles of every kind of good you would find at a real supermarket, Chanel branded of course. There is always a new twist, a new concept or a new culture in Lagerfeld's clothes. He has taken Chanel, both literally and figuratively, all around the world to India, Scotland, Singapore, Texas, and most recently, Dubai. He finds his inspiration both in Chanel's historic archives, and in the world around him.

With everything that Lagerfeld does for Chanel, he both retains the fashion house's classic, historical image, as well as solidifies his own take on a more modern image of Chanel, one that is adaptable to an ever-changing world.