Chanel. It’s one of the most signature symbols in the fashion industry and society. The house’s revolutionary designs have proved themselves timeless as they still provide the basis for many designs today.

Chanel took a leap forward in 1915 when she opened her first couture house in Biarritz, and a second at 31 Rue Cambon in 1918.

Two years later the brand came out with its first perfume, the widely known and coveted, Chanel No. 5 with the help of expert perfumer Ernest Beaux and the financial baking of businessmen Théophile Bader and Pierre and Paul Wertheimer (A&E Television Networks, n.d.). In exchange for their investment, the Wertheimers were contracted to receive 70% of the perfume’s profits, Bader was to take 20%, and Chanel would get a mere 10% (A&E Television Networks, n.d.). However, Chanel No. 5 experienced success that none of them imagined. It proved to be a revolutionary perfume of the time with its simple, elegant bottle and complex mix of jasmine and other floral scents. The combination of various scents in No. 5 made it stand out from the other perfumes of the period in that most only consisted of one scent. This difference made its popularity skyrocket to the point that it provided the financial basis for the Chanel Empire (Coco Chanel, 2015). With its success, Chanel made multiple, unsuccessful attempts to take legislation to renegotiate the shares each of the partners received from the perfume (A&E Television Networks, n.d.).

With the growing popularity of the brand and loyal customer base, Chanel employed 4,000 workers and owned five separate boutiques on Rue Cambon by 1935, only a quarter century after Chanel opened up her first shop. The introduction of World War II forced Chanel to fire many of these workers and close all of her shops except 31 Rue Cambon due to the continued high demand for her various perfumes and accessories (Inside Chanel, n.d.). After the war, her previous relationship with German military officer, Han Gunther von Dincklage, formed her many critics, leading Chanel to move to Switzerland for some time in a self-administered-exile (A&E Television Networks, n.d.).

The year of 1978 introduced the house’s first ready-to-wear collection and the global distribution of its accessories. In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld was hired as artistic director of Chanel fashion and head designer of haute couture, read-to-wear, and accessory collections (Inside Chanel, n.d.). With Lagerfeld leading, the following years saw the creation of Chanel watches with the Premiere watch (1987), along with the house’s first fine jewelry collection (1993), and the launch of another popular Chanel perfume, Coco Mademoiselle in 2001 (Inside Chanel, n.d.).

BRAND PERSONALITY

The personality of the highly acclaimed fashion house can simply be described by two quotes from the founder:

1. “Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury”

This quote alludes back to the very beginnings of the brand (A&E Television Networks, n.d.). As mentioned in the historical background, the reason Chanel became so popular throughout the years was its ability to bring practicality to fashion. From its start, the house defied the trends of its time by using comfortable fabrics and designing movement-enabled structures to its pieces as can be seen with the jersey dresses, the Chanel suit, and trousers for women, among a variety of other designs and styles Gabrielle Chanel herself saw come out of her house (Chanel: Label overview, n.d.). However, the brand has diminished this emphasis on comfort in luxury during recent years under the direction of Karl Lagerfeld, which will be discussed in following sections (Garelick, 2014, p.424-425). With this difference between Chanel under the direction of the founder herself and Chanel under the direction of Lagerfeld, it could be more proper to say that the brand personality is revolutionary instead specifically bringing comfort to luxury.

2. “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous”

In contrast, this statement from Chanel provides “the absolute embodiment of the label even a century after it was founded” (Chanel: Label overview, n.d.). This was especially seen during Chanel’s comeback in the 1950s when the brand came out with the leather-quilted handbag that New York Magazine proclaims as the “definition of classy glamour with an edge” (Chanel: Label overview, n.d.). This similar personality is argued to be seen today with many of Chanel’s original fashions being redesigned with Lagerfeld’s classic edgy twist (Garelick, 2014, p.424-425).

Although the brand does not receive direct pressure from the financial sector, they, nevertheless, have been pressured by the modern realities of luxury, which has inevitably led the brand to loose its original mystique and aura. The biography by Rhonda K. Garelick, Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History, alludes to the harsh state in today’s market by referencing the democratization of the brand. Garelick (2014, p. xiv) mentions how millions of people own some piece of the brand whether it be clothing, accessories, perfume, etc., with

“millions more [buying] the infinitely available copies”.

However, the increased availability of the house’s clothing is arguably the most notable in relation to its loss of mystique. The book, The End of Fashion, explains that Chanel was unwilling to dress the masses (Agins, 2000). Thus, the founder’s original mindset was swiftly swept under the rug only seven years after her passing, when the brand came out with its first ready-to-wear line in 1978- clothing made for every day dress and in essence, the every day consumer- along with its increased global distribution (Karabell, 2015). This mass dispersal of the brand image to all social levels has led to the dilution of the exclusive, prestigious air the brand has always held.

In 2011, following the trend of “the artification of luxury”, the brand launched “Culture Chanel”, an exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing that showcased the life and inspirations of Gabrielle Chanel (Kapferer, 2015 p. 77). This installation did wonders for Chanel’s mystique, in that it shaped Gabrielle Chanel as the “creative genius” many already believed her to be (Lawry, 2015). The depiction of Chanel as such, heightens the prestige of Chanel the brand while also alluding to its original personality of rebellious elegance and comfort.

Over the years Chanel has made use of many celebrities in order to create a “‘starification’ of [its] value chain” through both its print and digital advertisements (Catry, 2003). In 2013, the brand was awarded Luxury Daily’s 2013 Luxury Marketer of the Year award in response to marketing efforts such as the use of actress Diane Kruger, in the advertisement titled, “Where Beauty Begins” to help form a deeper consumer connection with their skincare line (McCarthy, 2013). Using a celebrity over the virtually unrealistic look of models, heightens consumer connection in result of their perceived relationship with the given celebrity (Agins, 2000).

Chanel continues with the use of celebrities in its print advertisements as well in order to further uphold and essentially gain back the brand’s original mystique. Many of its prints feature model and pop culture celebrity, Cara Delevingne for the brand’s fall 2014 ad campaign (Schulte-Hillen, 2014). The use of Delevingne immediately alludes to an air of sophistication, comfort (which is exuded with her own self-confidence), and timeliness. In addition, because of her quirky, fun-loving personality, many consumers nowadays love and easily relate to Delevingne.