FASHION DESIGNERS

Comparison of Two Fashion Designers

Comparison of Two Fashion Designers

Introduction

This paper compares and contrast the two French fashion designers of the 20th century era, Coco Chanel and Jeanne Lanvin. The Coco Chanel known as a pioneer in women's fashion. The Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel launched a business empire in the early twentieth century, leading women away from impractical clothing to designs that emphasized comfort and functionality as well as high style. He was born into poverty in the French town of Saumur in central France; Chanel learned to sew while attending a local convent school. In 1902, she took her first job as a dressmaker; she became a milliner around 1908. Chanel's simply trimmed hats were a sharp contrast to the extravagant styles prevalent in the first years of the century. Fascinated by her unconventional approach to fashion, society women joined actresses and courtesans as customers of the rising designer. In 1910, Chanel opened her first shop, Chanel Modes, in Deauville, France. Her lease prevented her from competing with another dressmaking shop, but the women who bought Chanel hats admired the dresses worn by the milliner and requested copies. Sometime around 1910, Chanel also began selling clothing (Wallach, 1998, 90).

While, Jeanne Lanvin founded in 1889 at 22, Rue du Faubourg Saint Honore by Jeanne Lanvin (1867 to 1946), Lanvin is the oldest Parisian fashion house. She was a French latest tendency designer and entrepreneur was born in Brittany, France. She was the eldest of 10 children of a pair of Breton concierges. She first trained as a dressmaker at a house called Talbot and then as a milliner (Picon, 2002, 210).

Discussion

Although Chanel's artistry is indisputable, much of her success can be credited to timing. With the arrival in 1914 of World War I, conspicuous consumption suddenly became in extremely poor taste, and women pared down their attire. The many women who labored in support of the war effort sought versatile yet elegant clothing, and Chanel's designs satisfied these new dressing requirements by focusing on loose-fitting styles. She often favored masculine styles, elements of which were to survive even into her formal collections, in particular the small boater-shaped hats, neat collars, and shirt cuffs fastened with cuff links. Sleeves became a career-long obsession as the couturier constantly sought a design that would allow movement without distorting the line of the garment. By 1917, her loose sweater with a sailor collar and long, easy line had become a general fashion. A shrewd marketer, Chanel anticipated the popularity of sportswear for outdoor living. During the war, she visited Biarritz, a fashionable resort in southwestern France that catered to the idle rich fleeing the ravages of war. Realizing that these moneyed refugees still wanted luxury in their lives, Chanel marketed her designs to them. War shortages in materials such as serge forced the couturier to use knitted jersey as a replacement, but she soon made it into a high-fashion item. Knitted jersey eventually became such a Chanel favorite (because of its comfort ...