The Icon and the Fakers - Coco Chanel and Generation DIY

17. June 2008 Art & Fashion, Designers & Labels, Recommended Reader Sites Judith

When Coco Chanel opened her first shop in 1913 in Paris, no one would have been thought that this woman would become one of the most influential designers of the 20^th century, a role model for the industrially expanding world and a precursor for female independence….
Replacing tight-fitting corsets and long dresses with petticoats by comfortable, sexier clothing, by pants and by men´s wear inspired working costumes and suits Coco Chanel induced the biggest fashion revolution in the 20^th century.

The first stylemarks were the simple, uncluttered but elegant designs. Boxy lines, shortened skirts and the use of jersey freed woman for the practical activities made necessary by the war.
The final breakthrough as international design icon came in 1926 with American Vogue alluding Chanel´s “little black dress” - a dress suitable for day and evening- as THE next it-piece.
While first shocking the general public with that strapless and backless “little risk”,the little black dress soon became an icon and is a legendary today´s Must-Have.
The rest is history - until her dead in 1971, Coco Chanel hasn’t only built up an international fashion empire - she also opened up the world of haute couture (high fashion). With her own lifestyle and attitudes as well as with the timeless class, the intelligent emancipation and the comfortable elegance of her designs, Chanel became a key arbiter of women´s taste of style and fashion and is considered to be one of the 100 most influential people of the 20^th century (Time Magazine).

Following Coco Chanel´s favorite “colors” black and white and conform to one of her design guidelines “simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance”, the owner of Chateau de Cremat gave a symbol to Coco Chanel that became one of the world most famous trademark.
The Chanel logo, the basic black and white Chanel color scheme, the traditional materials and its very high quality execution as well as Chanel´s unique design language and her iconic status are the immortal Chanel key codes that inspire manufacturers, artists, designers and wannabe´s today for
imitation and artwork, hacking and re-coding. While not interested in fakes and cheap imitations- today I crawled the web, searching for Chanel “hacks”. For products, projects, artwork and fashion that work with the Chanel logo in different ways. As you see, the results range from totally odd to hyper cool, from nasty to smart.

Pictures above: Artwork by French street artist Zevs, seen on Art Magazine, Graveyard installation by artist Laura Keeble, T-Shirt by Naco-Paris, Chanel Cake by debbiedoescakes, T-Shirt by Cherrycore.
Photo from Coco Chanel found on black-in