"Although Coco Chanel’s death initially caused the maison to falter, it was not a death knell but a call for rebirth; an opportunity for the brand to reinvigorate itself for the transition into the 21st century. The elaborate performances that constitute a Chanel collection operate within a sphere of existing architectural language and organizations of space. Through transcending the gap between the individual and the larger lexicon of fashion, the Chanel narrative creates a continuous dialogue between fantasy and reality that has shaped the formation of its status as an iconic paragon of modern haute couture, and will continue to inform the abstract concept of Chanel as the quintessential modern woman."

 

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"The 1980’s dramatically changed the ways in which art forms were represented in the media; art was “no longer the reserve of specialist, and rather staid, magazines; architecture and design discourse was integrated into a broader view of visual culture and style” (Skin & Bones). On the pages of NATO [Narrative Architecture Today], fashion, interior design, mixed media art and architecture were laid out side by side and allowed to breath the same air, encouraging a comprehensive approach to design that came to directly influence Karl Lagerfeld as he began to articulate his artistic vision for Chanel."

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"The narrative of Chanel has always been that of overcoming a restrictive past to embrace a freedom of movement and chic lifestyle; of a woman whose hard-working, elegant nature is reflected in the effortless clothing that she wears. Gabrielle Chanel, who came to be known as “Coco” after her work as a cabaret singer in the early 1900s, is often credited with liberating the modern woman of the 20s from the restrictive corset shapes of the 19th century and establishing standards for the new woman of the 20th century. Although Paul Poiret was more of a key figure in revolutionizing the typical silhouette of women’s fashion and 'shifting fashion away from the corseted image of the female body' (Driscoll), what became essential to the Chanel brand is the narrative that Coco singlehandedly emancipated women from a male-dominated fashion world and created not trends, but style essentials that are eternally chic and beautiful. She modeled her conception of the ideal modern woman after her own image so that her 'slim boyish figure and cropped hair became an ideal, as did her tanned skin, active lifestyle, and financial independence' (Krick)."

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"When examining notions of modernity and the continuous development of what the term means within our cultural vernacular, fashion is often confined to a specific aesthetic and moment in time. [...] 'While fashion is generally excluded from the Modernist canon, deemed too transient and too superficial to count among its central revolutions... the contested borders of Modernism are now sometimes extended to include high fashion... there is no question that the Chanel brand and "Coco Chanel" (her star status during her lifetime and her iconic status after it) together form a key figure in renovating relations between art, industry, leisure, consumer culture, and modern identity' (Driscoll)."

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"The brand under Karl Lagerfeld presents itself as a careful balance between past and present, always representing the modern woman as someone who is in dialogue with both history and future at the same time. Modernism constantly distinguishes itself through self-differentiation, and is 'difficult to periodize precisely because it is always claiming to break with something... it is in installing a look that is both ‘classic’ and ‘modern’ that Chanel constitutes a rupture: she claims to be a forceful periodization of fashion that delineates what will always be true (in style)'".

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"This concept of Chanel as quintessentially modern works to create the narrative that is essential to the maison’s very being. The abstract Chanel woman embraces a ubiquitous silhouette like the tweed jacket, but is able to transform it to fit her individual style; according to Simmel, this allows for a 'fashionable individual appearance [that] never clashes with the general style, but always stands out from it'. He'“saw in fashion a system of differentiation in dialogue with conformity'."

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“In "The Metropolis and Mental Life," Simmel notes that urban life demands that the subject exaggerate the 'personal element in order to remain audible even to himself', a concept that Chanel has enthusiastically absorbed as central to how its brand is perceived. Whether it's through a feminist protest on the runway or the construction of an underwater fairytale, Chanel’s elaborate runway presentations negotiate this area between individuality and conformity by creating a narrative architecture of form and space. The performances both invite you to join the global magic that is Chanel, and occupy your own unique space within it."

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"The performance of each collection is a creation of fantasy interacting with reality to create an experiential dimension, a world of Chanel that constantly negotiates between 'the spatial configuration of the universe...and the everyday world and its reality of survival, sustenance and territory. Within the framework of these spatial geometries, narratives can engage with the medium of space, and form the basis on which architecture can be given meaning' (Coates 15). Through its unique style of presentation, Chanel turns itself into not merely a dispensary of clothes, but an artistic concept that ebbs and flows with the tides of the seasons. Karl Lagerfeld envisions Chanel as one with the built environment; the collection becomes a cohesive vision that is built together with its habitat, not around it.