Photo by Horst P. Horst courtesy Chanel
As we wrap up our Women's History Month series, our minds are on fashion icon and designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who first made her name in fashion by mixing mens- and womenswear. (Think donning a sports jacket belted at the waist, for example.) From 1913 through the 1920s, Chanel's designs liberated women from restrictive corsets and from many of the fashion rules of the day. It was also the '20s when Chanel launched her iconic fragrance, Chanel No. 5, and the maison's first costume jewelry collection, which the designer shamelessly wore with gold and gemstone pieces. Today, most of us wouldn't think twice about mixing "high" and "low" jewelry, primarily because Chanel did it first (or at least most vocally and visibly). We are huge proponents of this practice here at Maison Mariann!
In 1932, Chanel finally waded into the fine jewelry game with her haute joaillerie collection, Bijoux de Diamants.
The pinnacle of the collection was the diamond-encrusted necklace shaped like a comet known as the Comète.
“If I chose diamonds, it is because they represent, with their density, the highest value for the smallest volume," said Chanel.
It's important to note: You can't talk about Chanel — with any awareness — without acknowledging the a large and irreparable stain on her storied life and career, involving a well-know affair with a Nazi officer during WWII, as well as additional inexcusable, anti-semite actions (explored in this BBC article about the 2024 Apple TV series, "The New Look, centered on the rivalry between Christian Dior — who created gowns for Nazi officer's wives — and Chanel in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II.
Chanel's reputation never completely recovered in Europe, but she continued designing, seeing success in the United States throughout the 1950s and until her death in 1971. Her design legacy goes beyond her actual designs, reverberating to this day in the way designers work in the fashion industry and how we, the masses, style our clothing. We have Chanel to thank for mixing mens- (especially pants) and womenswear, high and low jewelry and fabrics, and donning relaxed, casual chic attire. Its hard to say how Chanel would feel about yoga pants, but if she did wear them, no doubt on her it would look impossibly chic. We think she'd have paired hers with a blazer and our Celebracelet, non?