Gabrielle the Great

Coco Chanel has a name recognition of almost 100%. Ask any passerby who Gabrielle Chanel was and they will be at a loss for an answer. A shame, thinks May-Britt Mobach, because Gabrielle Chanel was a woman to look up to.

“Coco Chanel was in an orphanage, you know. While her father was still alive, you know. I find that almost sadder than if both her parents had died.” The middle daughter teaches the youngest girl about fashion classics. Lecture 1: Coco Chanel, whose life began like a fairy tale: full of misery and hopelessness.

I need to soufflé my daughter a little here. Coco was actually named Gabrielle Chanel. She only got the nickname Coco when she worked as a singer in a café around her twenties and sang the song ‘qui q’a vu Coco’. She also wasn’t in an orphanage, but was taken to a convent with her sister when her mother passed away. Gabrielle was twelve at the time.

The blue and white striped sailor sweater a uniform for Breton fishermen? Gabrielle wore it with wide trousers and once again made fashion history.

Where in a fairy tale the poor Gabrielle would end up in the arms of a handsome, rich, and loving prince after a setback, Gabrielle's life reads like a feminist pamphlet that Betje Wolff and Aagje Deken could only have dreamed of. Gabrielle decided who she wanted to be and that is who she became. To hell with conventions, complete misunderstanding of the differences between men and women. A corset the garment for women? Gabrielle couldn’t move in it and threw it off. Black not a color? Gabrielle invented ‘le petite robe noir’, the fashion essential that we all have in our closet. The blue and white striped sailor sweater a uniform for Breton fishermen? Gabrielle wore it with wide trousers and once again made fashion history. My favorite photo of Gabrielle is this one. Show it to a group of women and few will recognize Gabrielle Chanel in the photo. What they do see is a woman like us. Strong, charming, powerful. The photo was taken almost a hundred years ago and still resonates in every way today.

2017 is the year of Gabrielle for Chanel. The house returns to the values of the rebellious, strong, and quirky Gabrielle. The DNA of the brand, this powerful unique woman who didn’t want to be put in a box or have limitations imposed on her, is closer to the woman of today. Closer than it ever was before. The millennials, the slashers, our diversity, quirkiness, and independence align with the values of Gabrielle who decided what she wanted to do and did it.

Gabrielle's life reads like a feminist pamphlet that Betje Wolff and Aagje Deken could only have dreamed of.

The Gabrielle year was ushered in last October during the spring/summer runway show at the Grand Palais in Paris, which was transformed into a Data Center for the occasion. Chanel has a rich tradition when it comes to shows and sets. In July, during the couture show, the entire Eiffel Tower was recreated in the Grand Palais, and we had previously seen a Chanel supermarket and a wind farm. With the show and the set, Karl Lagerfeld and the fashion house try to capture the spirit of the times. Just like in 2015, when the Parisian Boulevard Hausmann was recreated and the models came onto the runway with banners to advocate for gay parenthood and equal pay rights.

Back to October 2016, when the new Gabrielletas were shown during the s/s show. We had to wait since the Boybag (named after Gabrielle's great love Arthur Capel, whose nickname was Boy), which appeared in 2011.

The Gabrielle is a flat bag with an extremely long double chain that allows you to carry the bag comfortably and securely over both shoulders. Depending on the version, color, and material choice, the bag is available in the price range of €3000 to ten times that. A fun detail is that Gabrielle Chanel came up with the idea for the chain (the linked strap that is iconic for all Chanel bags) from the straps to which the nuns hung their keys. Gabrielle wanted to keep her hands free (a glass in one hand, a cigarette in the other) and therefore designed the long chain for her bag, so she could effortlessly throw it over her shoulder. Naturally, the Gabrielle bag is fully equipped for our working women, as the large model is spacious enough for your laptop.

Gabrielle wanted to keep her hands free (a glass in one hand, a cigarette in the other) and therefore designed the long chain for her bag so she could effortlessly throw it over her shoulder.

If you want to return to the rebellious heart of your house, that must also come forward in your campaign. Enter; Pharrell Williams, the first man in a Chanel campaign for a bag. We see him on stage with a croco version of the Gabrielle bag, worn crossbody. Other personalities who bring the Gabrielle bag to the forefront are Kristen Stewart, Cara Delevingne, and Caroline de Maigret. Each of them represents a different part of Gabrielle's rich character. Kristen the seductive, Cara the streetsmart, and Caroline as the iconic Parisienne.

Besides the bag, it was time for a new fragrance. Chanel No. 5 is the original perfume of the house. Launched in 1921 as the first ‘chemical’ perfume that not only smelled of flowers but where different scents were blended into a new creation. 5 was the lucky number of the superstitious Gabrielle, and the perfume was launched on the fifth of the fifth month. Undoubtedly also at five o'clock, a good time for a glass to toast to the perfume that almost a hundred years later is still the most famous and best-selling perfume in the world.

No. 5 is still the most famous and best-selling perfume in the world almost a hundred years later.

Christine Dagousset, vice president of Chanel perfume, tells the digital fashion newspaper WWD that Chanel wanted to expand their perfume range. “No. 5 is still the backbone of our house, but to be honest, sales were declining in some countries. That’s why we launched the more modern L’Eau No. 5. It was very well received. Especially ‘the jus’ as we French say, so ‘the juice’ was appreciated by many women.” The other Chanel fragrance Chance is the third best-selling perfume in the global rankings. “No. 5 stands for femininity and women who have achieved something, it’s a mature scent,” continues Dagousset. “Mademoiselle Chanel represents the paradox of being both vulnerable and invincible at the same time. With Gabrielle, we capture who Gabrielle Chanel really was, with her values that are still relevant today. We want to show Gabrielle as she was before she became Coco.”

Of course, Chanel does not target a small audience. The goal is to catapult the perfume into the top 10 of best-selling fragrances. They already have the number 1 and number 3 position, so Gabrielle might feel at home among her big sisters in second place.

A new perfume calls for a party. And Chanel calls for Paris. So the international fashion press was invited to come to the Palais de Tokyo after the couture show on July 4th in the evening to welcome the new perfume. Naturally, there were the faces of Gabrielle, Pharrell, Kristen, and Caroline. Of course, Pharrell performed. Katy Perry came to sing along, and Karl himself watched from the front row in front of the stage with satisfaction.

Gabrielle Chanel was born 134 years ago. A woman who started with a small hat shop in Deauville and then broke through via Rue Cambon to world domination. A woman who did not conform to the prevailing morals. Did not marry because she had to, but arranged her life as she thought she wanted it. And succeeded. A hundred years after she opened her first store, Chanel is still the fashion brand with the highest name recognition, and Gabrielle Chanel is a woman we can look up to. Put Snow White and Cinderella in the corner, the fairy tale of Chanel is what our daughters can really benefit from.