Coco Chanel – the evolution of a fashion icon

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Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style

By Jérôme Gautier

 Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style is a visual exploration of Chanel’s fashion evolution, focusing on the continuing stylistic dialogue between Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, who since 1983 has been the director of the company.  The introduction promises that this book ‘brings together the vocabulary of style as seen by the most famous photographers in the world’. 

The images trace Chanel’s essential themes;  her  jersey  and tweed  suits,   hats and little black dresses. The photographs are, as promised, intriguing and stunningly beautiful and include images of Chanel wearing her own creations.   Other models featured are Kylie Minogue, Cate Blanchett, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Arizona Muse, Nadine Varda, Elsa Martinelli, Marion Morehouse, Courtney Love,  Anouk Aimee, and Natalia Vodianova.  The photographs, reproduced from a number of fashion magazines, are by celebrated photographers who include Peter Lindberg, David Sims, Horst P Horst, Pierre Bailly and Annie Leibovitz.   The text is interesting but limited in its scope.  It is not so much concerned with Chanel herself but with what was happening around her, as this is what influenced her fashion ideas.  It also focuses a great deal on Karl Lagerfeld. 

The book is divided up into thematic chapters that cover Chanel’s various style revolutions.  There is a lot of emphasis on how her designs reflected the times in which she lived and provided women with an alternative approach to fashion.  Her clothes ran counter to contemporary trends but she proved how stylish they were by wearing them herself in places such as the races, where they would be seen by potential clientele.  She was her own advertisement.  While the photographs celebrate Chanel’s style and compare those of the 1920s with Karl Lagerfeld’s contemporary designs, the text attempts to put that style in context.

The author Jérôme Gautier is a journalist and expert on fashion photography and the history of fashion. He lives and works in Paris.
Chanel: The Vocabulary of Style by Jérôme Gautier  is published by Thames and Hudson.  304 pp., 209 colour & mono illus, £65.00. ISBN 9780500515815