1. How Chanel stood the test of
time:
a focus on consumption and
identity.
Emily Pearce.

2. Passion for fashion.
According to the Oxford English dictionary:
“Fashion” is „the style and custom prevalent at a given time.
It will change more rapidly than the culture as a whole‟
The crucial statement here is that „it changes more rapidly
than culture as a whole‟ inferring an undying, insatiable need
for the consumption of new, innovative items of clothing.
Yet Chanel has remained as LEADER of fashion houses across the
world (according to the BBC it attains over 10% of the market share)
with their signature designs such as the classic quilted bags being
deemed timeless, classic fashion staples.
This presentation will explore why….

3. Going for gold.
Chanel is stereotypically synonymous with that of the elite,
and according to The Financial Times is one of the top 10
most expensive clothing brands
Resulting in the earning approval from the rich and famous
(Keira Knightly and Victoria Beckham are avid supporters of the
brand); the famous tweed suits of Coco Chanel are a fashion
industry must-have.

4. Something for
everyone.
As one among the top elegant fashion houses, Chanel has
revolutionised how women wear products related to
clothing; the younger and trendier crowds are lured in by this
designer clothing brand’s use of classic pieces and those more
ambitious.
It has an enviable mass appeal , as well as having remained
the status symbol of the elite crowd; which evidently affects its
consumption as a cultural product.

5. “Fashion” said Gabrielle
'Coco’Chanel,
"is about moving forward,
not looking least one Chanel is
back."
As early as 1915, Harper's Bazaar raved over Chanel’s
designs: “The woman who hasn‟t at
hopelessly out of fashion…This season the name Chanel is on
the lips of every buyer.” - Echoic of Chanel’s storming success
throughout the brand’s lifetime, their brand’s progression
seems to have kept fashionistas enthralled since its
conception.
Evidence from all around us merely illustrates that people
desire progression; the formation of new meta-narratives.
Fashion provides a getaway for this, allowing for the breaking
down of barriers in regards to our self-representation: (think
Lady Gaga’s meat dress!)

6. Chanel the innovator.
She stole the masculine concepts of shirts,
pyjamas, hats and trousers, and reinvented them for
her sex.
Breaking down the barriers and meta-narratives
in regards to fashion in a post-modernistic way in an
attempt to refute the male gaze, and make
fashion appealing to women.

7. On the lust list.
A measure of how popular Chanel items can be would be
the earrings, which quickly sell out in stores.
Some women even travel to the Chanel boutiques in
different countries in search of these fashion accessories
when the store in their own country do not receive any stock.
They are willing to pay the additional cost of travel and
currency exchanges that inflate the cost of the earrings, simply
because owning and wearing a pair of Chanel earrings in their
eyes automatically signals to the whole world that you have
great fashion sense and high taste.

8. Sweet smells of
success.
Not only have Chanel fashion products become a
global icon, even the perfumes produced by the
fashion line have established their own place in
popularity stakes.
Chanel No. 5 has been a top selling perfume since it
was first produced and set free on the unsuspecting
public. It has remained the top choice for women
worldwide despite constant new competition from
other brands.
Figures suggest that a bottle is sold every thirty
seconds.

9. Girl power!
Chanel is also known for liberating many women,
freeing them of constraints held over them by men in
terms of their appearance (the male gaze).
Trousers, blazers and ‘the power suit’ all gave women
strength and freedom in terms of the connotations of
their dress- in essence empowering them through
consumption.
Coco Chanel revolutionised haute couture fashion by
replacing the traditional corseted silhouette with the
comfort of simple suits and long, slender dresses.
frequently incorporating ideas from male fashion into
her designs.

10. Chanel: the idyllic
lifestyle.
According to Contemporary Fashion "She
dressed the modern woman in clothes
for a lifestyle." which indicates other things about
consumption of Chanel as a brand identity- they are
selling a lifestyle. Aiming to appeal to their target market
by using their products and advertising to depict the
perfect life.
Their influence in the fashion industry has always been
great; Coco is credited for making jersey a popular
fashion fabric, using it to make dresses cut to flatter the
figure rather than to emphasise and distort the natural
body shape. Again, aiming to liberate women.

11. But how did Chanel attain the
power to hold such a strong
influence over the fashion
industry and its consumers?

12. Strategic pricing:
Extortionate pricing in order to create a divide
between upper class elite (bourgeoisie) and lower
class (proletariat), which in turn encodes more
desirable messages( i.e. I'm rich) suggesting that
one is better than the other; it creates exclusivity.
exclusivity =desire

13. Use of celebrities
in adverts:
In today's society much of our interest is based around
celebrity culture. Everyone idolises one, or wants to be one.
So celebrity endorsement should ensue desire for the product.
One may say that celebrities represent the ideal self, so by
purchasing a product that they endorse it is a step closer to
being like them.

14. The model's
expression:
Paul Messaris examined facial expression in high
fashion models.
High-fashion models are generally unsmiling and
sometimes openly contemptuous. The supercilious
expressions on the models‟ faces serve to increase the
desirability of what they‟re selling by evoking status
anxiety in the viewer. This status anxiety occurs
through a pseudo looking glass (Cooley) by which the
viewer feels they are receiving negative feedback on
themselves, thus evoking anxiety.

15. self esteem in
advertising
tactics.
The status anxiety decreases the viewer‟s self esteem
influencing the consumer to buy designer products to re-
affirm themselves; suggesting that it is those who dictate the
high fashion brands (bourgeoisie) also (in an indirect manner)
dictate our own representation and definition through
cultural items.

16. The target
market.
Note the difference between the clothing advert (reserved
for the elite)and the perfume advert (more accessible).
In the clothing advert the models were aptly covered and in
no way sexual, so in terms of the gaze it presents those who
wear chanel as fetishistic ‘maddonnas’ due their distancing
from others, creating an attraction due to their
unattainability.
However, the perfume advert shows the girl nude, inferring
a voyeuristic stance on the gaze. Which could potentially be
decoded as a more accurate representation of the lower
class's desires- immediate gratification rather than long term
gain.

17. extreme hegemony in
the creation of a
brand...
A mistake of the press in times of commercial launch
of the Classic Chanel handbag is still stuck to the
most popular handbag of Chanel today. Misleadingly
the bag was published as the 2.55 handbag although
its real name was Timeless
CC.
Emphasising the huge influence of the press, sticking
on items for their whole product life cycle.

18. Perpetuation of
the dominant
ideology.
Our media saturated society as pointed out by Strinati
severely influences our views; we feel pressure to fit in as we
are told who we should be and what we should value dictated
through the dominant ideology-suggesting that we are subject
to manipulation by those in power who control the media,
consequently those who dictate the fashion through such a
medium.

19. One hundred and two years since its conception Chanel
is still going strong today, bringing out new lines every
season the brand is constantly reinventing fashion.
It is a household name both for owners of their items,
and those who desire them.
A fashion
brand that has