Coco Chanel "An Intimate Life"
1.
To my surprise, the face behind the iconic
Chanel brand, was a woman whose mother passed and father was never present in
her life as a market trader. Gabrielle was raised by a convent and was taught
how to sew by the nuns that raised her- to imagine she may have never gotten
into handmaking designs if not for her family circumstances. I admired her
ability to grow up without parents (or without the support of her parents), make
it through her hardships and create an iconic brand. I also admired her
boldness. And confidence in her brand because she would invite people who copied
her work, to her shows. She believed this only secured how exclusive her pieces
are, and imitation was not an issue. I did not admire her disconnect with her
humble beginnings, eventually creating clothes only for the elite. She did
revolutionize clothing for women by offering the ability of movement with utilitarian
ethic, but she designs for one body type (which if seen in today’s standards,
is appalling). The adversity she faced was the lack of family through the
developmental years of any person’s life and the death of someone she loved, Arthur
“Boy” Capel (inspiration of her notable Chanel “Boy” bag). Gabrielle made the
best of her time in the convent, learning useful skills that led to her
successful career (as previously mentioned), but she never quite got over the
death of her love. Some find it hard to believe there was a time where she was
not cold hearted.
2.
“Coco” Chanel exhibited tenacity, a great sense
of independence and strong passion for her work. Though some may argue her love
affairs were wrong because she used the men to benefit her, her ability to connect
with men and utilize them to propel her forward speaks to a level of further
thinking, analysis and awareness. This, to an extent, shows how focused she was
on her line, to expand it at any cost. Chanel had many “love affairs” as shared
in the book (for example, her affair with Stravinsky), in particular, when she
used a man’s wealth to set up a comeback for her fashion line. She kept up with
duchesses, countesses and other aristocrats, learned from them and later opened
a shop that allowed women to embroider the dresses she made. I believe this spoke
of her ability to adapt and have a unique take on trends.
3.
I was confused when the author thought Gabrielle
Chanel was a horizontal collaborator aka, German spy during World War II. It
was a shock to learn about because you would not have expected a girl brought
up in a convent, starting a fashion line, would come in contact with the world of
spies.
4.
The first question I would ask her is: What was
the greatest difficulty you found when your fashion line started becoming very
successful and how did you overcome it? I am always intrigued by how a person
handles difficulties or the most difficult moment of their career, I would be
very interested to hear her thought process. The second question is: What would
you have done differently if you knew everything that you knew at the end? I
would ask this because some people would say hindsight is 20/20 and they would
do nothing differently, but I believe some people have deep regrets they wish
they would undo.
5.
I believe her definition of hard work is relentlessly
growing. She saw many failures and rejections and heard disheartening news before
she truly succeeded. If she were to see how Chanel as a brand has grown to the
empire it is today (with the Chanel name meaning little to nothing when she was
born), I think she would be amazed. Many stores have been closed, the House of
Chanel shut down in 1940 and did not return for many years, but her love for fashion
never died. She continued to grow in that time and brought a line with her. Hard
work to her is being more than the hardships you face and I share this opinion.
No comments:
Post a Comment