“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”
-Coco Chanel
What Coco Chanel understood about fashion, is how to take something off limits and allow fashion's most courageous to use it as a tool for uniqueness and individualism. Menswear inspired her, artists reckless abandon for their garments and hair were sources of true inspiration; as were her many loves and her avante-garde morals of the day.
The iconic Chanel will be played in a new film by Amelie star Audrey Tautou. Tautou, known for her daring and unconforming love of acting itself, has also signed on to be the new face of Chanel no. 5, which hitherto was the domain of the Queen of Red Carpets, Nicole Kidman. Recall the Baz Luhrman produced commercial spots portraying a glamorous actress's escape from her mundane existence with a regular guy, who narrates and ends with, "her kiss, her smile, her perfume." Don't recall? It's at the bottom of this post. What stylizations can we incur from the legendary Chanel herself? Her lack of attention to what anyone else thought.
If you want to be an icon, you have to stop thinking about what people think and dress as you wish.
Chanel, after all was the sole responsibility for the emergence of the everlasting status symbol, the tan. Quite by accident, she was away on a yacht in the Mediterranean when she was out too long in the sun. Getting quite dark, she returned to dinner with friends in Paris who immediatly adopted the new look of health and vogue. Ever since, the tan has been associated with those rich enough to peruse the islands in winter, and lately, those rich enough to not give a damn about skin cancer or aging. With enough money for botox injections for life, why worry about the five minutes to apply sunscreen in Bora Bora?
Cancers aside, to be a revolutionary, you have to be different, and being different means being yourself and not caring what people think. Fashion is a great tool to get attention. And as they say, any publicity is good publicity. Ever notice those who wear the least get the worst press? Case in point Lil Kim and the infamous pasty. Look beyond, it's sexier to show a bit and hide much, and be subtle. Mixing is classic Chanel. Pair your boyfriends shirt with your pencil skirt and a sexy shoe. Take something masculine and make it feminine or vice versa. Guys in Rock and Roll would serve Chanel well for today. She'd admire their ability to gender-bend traditions without care. The Film of Chanel, directed by Anne Fontaine, will be released sometime in Winter or Spring. The Variety Article is available here.
Labels: Chanel, Individual Style, Movies, Upcoming Events
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