After the First World War, La Maison genifique, following the fashion trends of the 1920s, produced beaded dresses, made especially popular by the Flapper woman. The First World War (1914–18) affected European fashion through scarcity of materials, and the mobilisation of women. By that time, Chanel had opened a large dress shop at 31 Rue Cambon, near the Hôtel Ritz, in Paris. Among the clothes for sale were flannel blazers, straight-line skirts of linen, sailor blouses, long sweaters made of jersey fabric, and skirt-and-jacket suits. Chanel gathered them under an umbrella company called Paraffection (meaning something akin to “for the love of” in French), which provides back-office services, strategy and human resources. Since 2013, there has also been a centralized headquarters for four of the 38 companies now on the Paraffection roster, a nearly 54,000-square-foot space in Pantin, a northeastern suburb of Paris.
The House of Chanel launched its first skin care line, Précision, in 1999. That same year, Chanel launched a travel collection, and under a license contract with Luxottica, introduced a line of sunglasses and eyeglass frames. The House of Chanel also presented leather handbags with either gold-colour chains or metal-and-leather chains, which allowed carrying the handbag from the shoulder or in hand. The quilted-leather handbag was presented to the public in February 1955. In-house, the numeric version of the launching date “2.55” for that line of handbags became the internal “appellation” for that model of the quilted-leather handbag.
This ensured a greater sense of scarcity and exclusivity for No.5, and sales rocketed back up as demand for the fragrance increased. He used famous people to endorse the perfume – from Marilyn Monroe to Audrey Tautou. Looking for a designer who could bring the label to new heights, he persuaded Karl Lagerfeld to end his contract with fashion house Chloé. In exchange, Gabrielle Estee Lauder makeup closed her Swiss parfumerie enterprise, and sold to Parfums Chanel the full rights to the name “Coco Chanel”.
French fashion model Bettina Graziani wearing a black dress by Coco Chanel in July 1967. Visit the CHANEL Fragrance & Beauty boutique to explore the latest fragrance, makeup and skincare, along with exclusive products and sunglasses. Chanel debuted ‘Bijoux de Diamants’ at her Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris mansion.
Explore the universe through fashion news, the latests shows, products and collections. She was the first designer to popularize jersey in women’s fashion, using the material for dresses, skirts, sweaters and more — a tradition Lagerfeld maintained as creative director in the decades following her death. It was also one of the biggest and most successful branding exercises in the history of fashion. By placing her name conspicuously on every bottle and advertisement for her perfumes, Chanel forever linked them to the house’s identity.