OaS Costume (1955 album, north Romania)
If Karl Lagerfeld brought his passion for the XVIIIth century, the overly sweet ROCOCO so much despised by the real Gabrielle Chanel, it was perhaps because some of the true inspirations behind her style were not so CHIC in 1983, the year when the Kaiser reinvented her past. The first collection was a half failure.
Das Mirakel (1912) - the origin of Chanel logo in terms of design
Carme ou Charme - oder Karma?
The 88 years old Paul Morand (1888-1976) published in 1976 the well known book called L'Allure Chanel, a testament of her style, 5 years after Gabrielle left this world. It was his last book before he died. Few remember today the stylistic contribution from Romania in the evolution of Gabrielle Chanel. Her style was to erase her traces, her letters, the roots of any inspiration must be disguised in the final design - only the essence preserved. I grew up with beige, white and black and I was wearing Chanel before I knew there is a such a label in the West. Inevitable...
Paul Morand, her long time friend, was ambassador in Romania during the Vichy Régime, from 1942 to 1944. He was married with a Romanian extravagant and rich princess. Princesse Soutzo (1879-1975), born Hélène Chrissoveloni in Moldavia (her father was a greek banker), divorced from Romanian prince Dimitri Soutzo-Doudesco (8 avril 1871-1943) in 1923. She married Paul Morand in 1927... L'aimant. She was wearing Chanel, you can see many drawings and mentions in Vogue. She used to stay at Ritz and was a patron of Proust during WWI. The story of Morand, Hélène, Proust and Cocteau is well known. As you notice, there are already two Princes called Dimitri around COCO. One with a lot of money (the Romanian Prince, attaché militare à l'ambassade) and one without money (the Russian Prince, a chauffeur). When Soviets were approaching Romania in 1944, the Morand couple left the country to Switzerland with a train full with art works and valuable treasures. They knew how the war will end and took all the riches of her family in Berne. He was named ambassador. Morand followed Gabrielle in Switzerland for a long exile, they shared memories and the "interdiction" to come to Paris...
Paul Morand was not only an exquisite intellectual, but also an art amateur, in 1908 he was the director of Ecole Nationale des Arts Décoratifs. From Romania, he brought books and objects, ornaments, textiles, photos. Coco discovered their treasure from Romania, artworks, costumes, photos, stories...
It was not for the first time Coco was in front of a collection of Romanian objects. In fact, many clients and friends in the 1920's and 1930's were from Romania, but, as they changed their names, making them to sound french, the influence was forgotten. Needless to say that the history of fashion and costume is not known in Paris. Try to find some books in the respected libraries and you will be surprised...
Even Princesse Bibesco posed for Chanel in a rare ad I have in my collection.
The Romanian affair started right after WWI. Queen Mary of Romania, a major "star" in Europe, organized with other Romanian ladies a famous exhibition in Paris presenting the objects, textiles, costumes and folk ornaments. She was promoting her country all over Europe. Queen Mary was a Chanel client in the 1920's, but also a client of Jean Patou. For Paris, always in a hurry for new sources of inspiration, the event was a sensation. Coco visited this exhibition which took place not far from her house, on rue Faubourg Saint Honoré. Needless to say that many Russian refugees flew to Romania and Istanbul, then to Paris and London. In 1921, when Coco was preparing the introduction of her perfume, the fashion trend in Paris was Romanian. That's what you discover if you read all the fashion magazines of the era, as I did to build my Chanel collection.
Sculpture was revolutionized by Brâncusi, a purist like Chanel, but also a fashionable artist. For instance, one of his works was in the house of Paul Poiret, the first who brought the textiles from eastern Europe in Paris. The Balkan theme was not new, because already in 1912, with the Balkan wars, Parisian couturiers were showing Romanian and Croatian embroideries to the press.
But the true emergence of the style came in the mid 50's when COCO did her jackets as we know them today. The first photo I showed you comes from an album published in 1955 and depicts a well known type of jacket worn in an area called Oas (the first image). In fact, there are hundreds of Chanel jackets, black, white and beige with touches of red and navy. But most of them are beige and white, the texture is rough, like the first Chanel models. There is one man in Paris who used to wear this "exotic" new style, never seen before - it was Brâncusi - he was wearing an updated version of the national costume. Coco was constantly re-inventing the textiles. If the silhouette is pure, the textile should be always new.
When she found the name of the style she liked, she knew what to ask for at Rodier, the famous textile manufacturer.
In 1921 and 22 COCO designed several byzantine dresses. They were inspired and conceived for the Romanian court. The entire country was preparing for the great coronation after the union of Transylvania with Romania. It was the most important European event after WWI. The crown was made in Paris, it was byzantine in style and all the dresses had to evoke the past. The byzantine style you can see at Chanel was not inspired by Venice, but by the events of the 1920's and the new architectural style, a revival of a very old theme. All the rich Romanian princes who spent their time in Paris were living in these new buildings. Architecture and fashion was a form of ideology. The silhouette from this Chanel model was the silhouette of Queen Mary, she was 47.
One example of embroidered white fur/leather mantle shown in Vogue 1922 is a quintessential element of Romanian costume called "COjoc" and worn during very cold winters.
The beige cape lined with fur from the personal Chanel wardrobe, sold in the 1978 auction, is the simplified version of another functional costume. The small astrakhan hat and jacket she wears are again pieces I saw thousand times worn by shepherds. She made them couture.
The genius of Coco was to take essential elements of costume and remove their folk origin making them eternal. This way, they were modern and not costume de théâtre à la Poiret.
8 years before her death in 1963, Coco designed several amazing coats directly inspired by the beige cloak of shepherds in Romania, she used color to dye the huge flocks.
Chanel la bergère, à l'odeur du bois - disait Paul Morand.
In an article I wrote for the other blog I explained how the golden ration 5:8, explored by Romanian writer Matila Costescu Ghyka (1881-1965), found its expression in Coco's designs. Prince Ghyka was friend with Paul Morand, Prince Bibescu, Marcel Proust. The 5:8 proportion applied to the fashion silhouette is the "under the knee" line COCO was obsessed to maintain. Take the 8 heads fashion silhouette and search for the line No5. If you consider the shoes, the whole silhouette is actually 8,5 not 8 heads, but using the bi-color shoes she invented, you have an intelligent optical illusion. The beauty she achieved in the 50's and 60's is the mathematical beauty of the golden number found in art, detailed in the famous 1931 book called "Le Nombre d'Or" and in the 1952 "Philosophie et Mystique du Nombre", both written by Romanian Prince Matila Ghyka. COCO applied this principle, the proportion 5:8, right after she purchased the book Le Nombre d'Or. It is the design of a very rare perfume called "Une idée de Chanel" sold in an octogonal bottle containing a variation of No5, soon after 1931. A look in the private library of Coco will reveal her true nature, spirituality and intelligence, the reason why Morand spoke about the poetry of her fashion.
In 1921, Princesse Soutzo was wearing this dress, specially made for her by Gabrielle for "Clair de lune" bal. She was also one of the happy few who received the first bottles of Chanel No5.
In 1922, COCO continues with her Romanian inspiration for these two models featuring a well known popular ornament (click for better view & the description).
Chanel 1971 - the typical Romanian rug textile used in every house
(COCO kept even the color scheme)
In the 1980's, when Lagerfeld took the direction of Chanel, there was nothing chic about a country which was communist at the time and whose past in terms of costume was as purist as COCO. There was no glamour, the vital ingredient fashion needs to sell dreams. The black and white dress ensemble everybody knows was "invented" one hundred years ago by a Russian princess who had to work for Coco in the No5 year (I showed the picture this summer).
The genius of Karl Lagerfeld was to add all the Versailles frou-frou and what Coco disliked, creating thus a new type of fashion for a new empire, a certain idea of COCO ...
Queen Mary in national costume
Princess Ileana in national costume
Queen Mary and her daughters 1923
Romanian Queen in CHANEL
The Judgment of Paris?
(on the right, her daughter wears a traditional Romanian black jacket)
all pictures are from my Chanel collections
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