Movie on Fashion Icon- Coco Chanel

IDE124 Fashion

Worksheet for the Movie on a Fashion Icon

Movie: Coco Chanel. Dir. Christian Duguay. Perfs. Shirley MacClaine, Barbora Bobulova. Screen Media Films, 2008.


Poster for the 2008 movie, Coco Chanel

Iconic & Distinctive: Describe Chanel’s style. Point out what is distinctive about it.
Her style is classic, chic casual, elegant and against the stereotype that women were restricted to wearing only long dresses and corsets.

Iconic & a breakaway from previous styles: How is her style different from previous trends?

Previously, women wore very restricting clothing such as the corset; many of those had stiff collars and showed the long elegant lines of the women’s bodies. However, Coco Chanel managed to break away from that trend by introducing more comfortable clothing made of different materials like jersey. In order to make her clothes comfortably fitting for her customers, she had the clothes specially tailored and meticulously handmade.
[In previous trends, women wore elaborate dresses and stiff corsets, as this was seen as lady-like and accentuated their figure. However, these clothing restricted their movement and were uncomfortable. On the other hand, Chanel’s clothing consisted of dresses that were shorter and made of more comfortable material such as jersey, which allowed for women to be able to move around with greater ease, and fitted them better.
In the past trends, women wore elaborate dresses and stiff corsets that accentuated their figure and were deemed appropriate for a lady to wear. Yet these clothing often restricted their movements and were uncomfortable. Chanel’s style of garments were more comfortable. Her clothing, unlike the past trends, were shorter and made of more comfortable material such as jersey. Her clothing were also all hand-sown and  cut in such a way that the woman wearing it would be able to move around with greater ease yet still look fashionably nice.

Icons: What personal qualities does she have to become a successful fashion icon?

Coco Chanel is entrepreneurial, because she was the one who thought of starting up a business selling hats, and she started her career from scratch with only the financial help from Boy. After which, she progressed quickly and expanded her collection by making specially tailored clothes. Besides, coupled with her talent in making hats and clothes, Chanel followed her passion and never swayed from it, even when times were hard and there were not enough appropriate materials available for her to make clothes. She explored and experimented making clothes with the different materials instead and, true enough, her risk-taking spirits and innovative efforts paid out, when many started to love her clothes and her business boomed. Chanel was also determined and persistent. Although she had to work her way up from the bottom and faced harsh criticism from many, she did not give up on making her own line of clothes and hats. In addition, she was not afraid to experiment, go against traditional stereotypes and challenge what was considered to be socially acceptable at that time. Furthermore, she was a perfectionist, and worked diligently to achieve excellence, insisting that all clothing and hats must be painstakingly stitched by hand. Additionally, she had foresight and understood her customers wants and needs, which kept her clothing line and other apparel popular. These qualities enabled Chanel to become successful as a fashion icon.


Iconic Label: What are the factors that enable Chanel to be successful?

Firstly, Chanel had the financial and emotional support of her love, Boy. Boy gave her the strength to carry on and pursue her dream even though she faced numerous problems and disappointments along the way. Meanwhile, her friend Adrienne provided her with assistance in manning her shop.  She also had connections, which helped her to become recognized by the rich and some of the top designers. Chanel had the grit to let women at that time know that they had the liberty to wear clothes that are comfortable and elegant at the same time. Her grit propelled her to come up with creative and innovative ideas that suited her concept of fashion, which made a breakthrough and was eventually accepted by many. Her grit gave her the drive to do what she thinks is right, despite all the insults and rejection she has faced on her route to success. Lastly, Chanel insisted on meticulously handmade products. Due to this, all of her clothing and accessories like hats and scarves are all very long-lasting, elegant and trendy. The social and economic situation during that time, due to the war, also worked in Chanel’s favour. She was able to take advantage of the war to attract customers as her clothing were more comfortable, enabling poor women to be able to move about in their work with greater ease and the rich to go on without their servants. Therefore, these factors contributed to and paved the road to Chanel’s success.