Last night I watched
the season finale of Desperate Housewives, were one of characters, Lynette
Scavo gave a speech at friend’s wedding and I quote; “You start looking around
and thinking ‘what do I want now, what is the next thing I need to be happy?’
So you look and you look and you keep thinking you’ve found it but nothing
works and the reason nothing works is because that hole in your heart you’re
trying to fill is already filled. You just forgot.” Although this may have
originally been implied to the love between two people, it made me think of
Chanel’s Little Black Jacket. One will know it is a timeless piece, a classic
and shamefully, this can be forgotten.
Look back to 1954
where Coco Chanel, the very one first imagined just one ordinary jacket that
changed and shaped the future. A quote from Coco Chanel where she states:
"Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are
women inside the dresses. Most women dress for men and want to be admired. But
they must also be able to move, to get into a car without bursting their seams!
Clothes must have a natural shape." The importance of the Little Black
Jacket is enormous that it contributed to the way women dressed themselves
while Karl Lagerfeld produces each collection and indulgences in another
project to perhaps to achieve what Lynette Scavo said; to fill the void that
something may be missing yet nothing works. Look at it this way, the past
collections that Lagerfeld has presented to the fashion industry have been
nothing but an attempt to be fashion-forward and as words that can only explain
“hip and cool” so the youth of today will appreciate the label much more. But
why I ask?! Why does Lagerfeld have to create these large collections of pieces
of clothing that just don’t feel right anymore? Instead of trying to avoid the
dreaded words of “playing it safe” and being always ahead of the game, why not
strip back these overfilled collections and rework it back to the staple items
of clothing that are loved by all women. Embracing the brand for what it was
and what it should be instead of changing it into something that it’s not. Savile
Row is known worldwide for its traditional menswear bespoke tailoring. It does
not need to produce mass amount of collections, need fancy runways show with
overpowering set designs to get its clients to walk through the shops front
door. It is the high reputation of the remarkable craftsmanship of bespoke
tailoring that any right man would dream to own a suit from Savile Row which is
the exact same for Chanel. Chanel has their high reputation for their
beautifully crafted little jackets, comfortable dresses and casual suits for
women which will always bring back loyal customers each season to purchase. So
why overdo something that is so classic? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
When I think of
Chanel, I think of staple items that should be owned by every women and hanging
proudly in their wardrobe. Even if it isn’t Chanel, I remember when my mum
first bought a very Chanel lookalike Little Black Jacket from Zara for my
little sister. It is an item that can be paired with many outfits which shows
its versatility, what Chanel originally intended and this is exactly what Karl
Lagerfeld has recently demonstrated. From models to actors, musicians and
beyond, a very fashionable pack hit SoHo last week on Wednesday night to
celebrate; Chanel’s Little Black Jacket exhibit. The world touring exhibition celebrates
the iconic Little Black Jacket where over the years there have been different
cuts, shapes and proportions to the jacket but yet still remains as a timeless
piece. The exhibition showcases more than a hundred black and white portraits
of well-known faces all wearing the timeless Little Black Jacket. These
photographs are to feature in Lagerfeld’s latest book which is named after the
exhibition and will be released sometime between this summer and autumn, dates
are unknown as of yet. But Lagerfeld and former French Vogue editor, Carine
Roitfeld (who also stars in the photographs as a modern day, Coco Chanel and
perhaps one of my favourites out of the bunch) demonstrates in this exhibition,
the re-imagination of the icon black tweed jacket in how it could be worn or
interpreted, but not just by women but men as well as children. "The
interesting thing is that one simple thing, a little jacket with four pockets,
you can play so much and create 120 different types," Lagerfeld said.
"It's play time with an item that is timeless." And play time it
certainly was. Well-known figures such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Daphne Goeneveld,
Anna Wintour, Alice Dellal, Georgia Jagger, Daphne Guinness are just some of
names that feature in Lagerfeld’s book who were styled to take on a personality
or the personality playing a role. A very in-demand Joan Smalls also stars in
one of the photographs wearing not one but three of the Little Black Jackets.
One as a bandeau top, one that is tied around her waist to form a skirt and the
other placed on top of her head as a hat where she embodies the African woman. “There’s
not a rule that tells you, you have to wear jacket a certain way. Everybody
ties a sweater around the hips, so why not a jacket?” Lagerfeld comments.
What I love about
this exhibition, it really demonstrates how special and important this jacket
is. It is not like any other jacket or many other designs; it’s a jacket that has
its own secrets. Each little tweed jacket is hand-stitched with silk which
hides away from your knowledge, the jacket’s biggest secret: a chain. When
originally designed, Chanel used the idea of a chain to help the jacket retain
the shape that it was intended to be while it was fitted to the outline of the
body. To this very day, Lagerfeld carries on this tradition, making Chanel the
very few fashion houses to still carry out the process of lining the jackets
with fine chain. But here is the shocking twist, although chain is used to
retain the shape of the Chanel jacket, the panelling in the jacket makes it
possible for the jacket to expand up to three sizes of the original design. It’s
almost like magic or perhaps just outstanding craftsmanship. The video below
shows seamstresses and pattern cutters demonstrate the process of creating one
Little Black Jacket and what a mesmerizing process it is. Just to watch these
women cut and sew away, creating everything by hand is amazing and gives me
such joy. In a world today that we live in where goods are mainly mass produced
by soulless and cold machinery, it is a breath of fresh air to watch a garment
designed and made by people who have a great joy and passion for making these
items of clothing. I can just imagine when it’s your first time putting on the
Little Black Jacket, you’d take great pride and feel proud to be wearing Chanel’s
iconic piece, knowing the hard-work and time that was put into creating your
jacket. It gives me butterflies just thinking about it.
And that’s what
Chanel is about. Not creating these overindulgent collections with pieces of
clothing that feel like they are just trying too hard to please. It’s about craftsmanship
and timelessness. As years to come, the jacket will constantly change. It will
see colours come in and go out, new designers taking charge and old ones
leaving and adornments and style changes to the design. But what will never
change about this jacket, is it will remain; dynamic yet classic, simple yet
elaborate. An iconic garment that will never be out-dated, always in demand and
always will be loved. And this exhibition proves this exactly where we can all
pay tribute to Coco Chanel’s classic Little Black Jacket. The exhibition will
run to the 15th June and all details for the exhibition, you will
find here.
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