Know Your History: The CHANEL Jacket

Ideally, the best designs are not only instantly recognizable, but also elicit an immediate feeling from their viewer. The undulating steel of a Frank Gehry building, the heart-quickening lines of a Ferrari, even the iPhone you’re likely reading this on, can each immediately be conjured up with your eyes closed. In fashion, designing something so recognizable that it lasts well beyond its creator’s lifetime is a feat all strive for and few ever achieve. Such is the case with a CHANEL jacket.

Spring 2008 CHANEL Haute Couture show set

(Image credit: courtesy of CHANEL)

Born from the desire to liberate women from the restrictive sartorial norms of the day (not the least among them, the regular use of a corset), French designer Gabrielle Chanel sought to dress women “in suits that make them feel at ease,” she once said, “but that still emphasize femininity.” An idea which now seems simple, and yet 100 years ago was the start of a fashion revolution. This belief led Mademoiselle Chanel to create her first tweed suits, and in turn, the iconic CHANEL jacket.

In the mid-1920s Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel started working with tweed for her womenswear. She was said to have often borrowed the clothes of her lover, the Duke of Westminster, because she felt drawn to the ease and comfort they provided. With this in mind, Gabrielle turned her attentions to tweed—and the fabric, which at the time was used only in menswear, soon became her signature. While retrospectively modest when they were introduced in 1925, Gabrielle Chanel’s first tweed suits, set the groundwork for what we have now come to instantly recognize as a CHANEL jacket today.

Actress Ina Claire in CHANEL, 1924

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the years that followed, Mademoiselle refined her tweeds, switching her factories from Scotland to France and worked on developing the mixture of tweed with silk and wool to create a lighter, more polished fabric.

Gabrielle Chanel, wearing her own designs, 1931

(Image credit: Bettmann)

Upon reopening her couture house in 1954, following WWII, it was Christian Dior’s wasp-waisted “new look” silhouette that ruled the day. Having freed women from the constraints of corseting some 30 years prior, Chanel’s designs were in direct contrast to the “new look” and were initially met with derision. It was actually American women who embraced Chanel’s reemergence and created the demand for her liberating, utterly modern suits and jackets.

1950’s CHANEL house model, Marie-Hélène Arnaud.

(Image credit: courtesy of CHANEL)

Her jackets were straight and structured, almost boxy and devoid of any darting, with a single seam down the center-back. The sleeve was slimly cut and set high on the shoulder to optimize comfort and movement. The lining mirrored this same construction, as Chanel herself would say, “the inside should match the outside.” As for embellishment, the four-pocket design often included braided-trim along the edges and cuffs, jewel-like buttons (often mirroring CHANEL iconography: a lion’s head, a camellia, a sheath of wheat, a double C…) and interior chain detailing along the hem included on every jacket to ensure the perfect drop, hang, and swing.

But how did these elements which make a CHANEL jacket so revolutionary also serve in making a CHANEL jacket so alluring? Enter Karl Lagerfeld…

Iconic CHANEL Ads

In 1983, a dozen years after the passing of Mademoiselle Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld was named the head of the house, and solidified the CHANEL jacket’s icon status. Lagerfeld took the elements introduced by Gabrielle Chanel, and for the next 35 years would constantly reinterpret her jacket, injecting it with elegance and humor while retaining the modern spirit with which it was created. He transformed it by playing with proportion and volume by cropping its length or expanding its shoulder. He brought it into the 21st century with new materials and fabric innovation, introducing leather and lurex, sequins and feathers, denim, rubber, and even cement to his versions of the classic jacket! Lagerfeld’s boundless imagination turned Mademoiselle Chanel’s creation into a worldwide object of desire.

Celebs Wearing the CHANEL Jacket

Image 1 of 21

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Victoria Beckham

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Caroline de Maigret

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Sienna Miller

(Image credit: Stephane Cardinale – Corbis)

Keira Knightly

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ali MacGraw

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Suki Waterhouse

(Image credit: Jacopo Raule)

Janelle Monáe

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Marisa Tomei

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Florence Welch

(Image credit: Patrick McMullan)

Sarah Jessica Parker

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Priyanka Chopra

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ella Balinska

(Image credit: Craig Barritt)

Katie Holmes

(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan)

Kaitlyn Dever

(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan)

Diane Kruger

(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan)

Demi Moore

(Image credit: Michel Dufour)

Alexa Chung

(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan)

Penélope Cruz

(Image credit: Stefanie Keenan)

Margaret Qualley

(Image credit: Foc Kan)

(Image credit: Francois Durand)

Kristen Stewart

Lagerfeld died in 2019, and the role of artistic director of CHANEL passed into the capable hands of his long-time right-hand, Virginie Viard, who has worked with CHANEL and Lagerfeld in various capacities since 1987 and specifically on CHANEL ready-to-wear since 2000. For the past few seasons since her appointment, Viard continues to expand on the stylistic vocabulary set forth by both Gabrielle Chanel and Lagerfeld. She has reworked her versions of the CHANEL jackets into new proportions of modern femininity, with an eye to what women today want, without sacrificing the founding principles of freedom, movement, and, most important, style.

CHANEL RUNWAY

Image 1 of 40

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Fall 1986 Haute Couture

Jerry Hall and Ines de la Fressange

(Image credit: Daniel SIMON)

Naomi Campbell

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Spring 1989 Haute Couture

Helena Christensen

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Spring-Summer 1989 Ready-to-Wear

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring 1990 Haute Couture

Gisele Zelauy

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Fall-Winter 1991/92 Ready-to-Wear

Karen Mulder

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Fall-Winter 1991/92 Ready-to-Wear

Yasmeen Ghauri

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Fall 1991 Haute Couture

Tatjana Patitz

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1991 Ready-to-Wear

Tatjana Patitz

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1991 Ready-to-Wear

Marpessa Hennink

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1991 Ready-to-Wear

Karen Mulder

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Fall 1992 Haute Couture

Kristen McMenamy

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1992 Ready-to-Wear

Nadja Auermann

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1992 Ready-to-Wear

Tyra Banks

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1992 Ready-to-Wear

Tyra Banks

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Spring-Summer 1992 Ready-to-Wear

Naomi Campbell

(Image credit: Daniel SIMON)

Fall-Winter 1993/94 Ready-to-Wear

Ève Salvail

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Kate Moss

(Image credit: Pool ARNAL/PAT)

Fall-Winter 1994/95 Ready-to-Wear

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

(Image credit: Daniel SIMON)

Spring-Summer 1994 Ready-to-Wear

Helena Christensen

(Image credit: Guy Marineau)

Spring-Summer 1994 Ready-to-Wear

Stella Tennant

(Image credit: Daniel SIMON)

Spring-Summer 1994 Ready-to-Wear

Cindy Crawford

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Naomi Campbell

(Image credit: Pierre VAUTHEY)

Spring-Summer 1995 Ready-to-Wear

Eva Herzigová

(Image credit: GERARD JULIEN)

Fall-Winter 1996/97 Ready-to-Wear

Jodie Kidd

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Spring 2001 Haute Couture

Devon Aoki

(Image credit: Pool SIMON/STEVENS)

Spring-Summer 2002 Ready-to-Wear

Stella Tennant

(Image credit: PIERRE VERDY)

Spring-Summer 2003 Ready-to-Wear

Audrey Marnay

(Image credit: Frederic SOULOY)

Fall-Winter 2008/09 Ready-to-Wear

Irina Lazareanu

(Image credit: Peter White)

Spring 2017 Haute Couture

Arizona Muse

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Cruise 2019/20

Anna Ewers

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Cruise 2019/20

Selena Forrest

(Image credit: Peter White)

Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear

Fran Summers

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Spring-Summer 2020 Ready-to-Wear

Berit Heitmann

(Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain)

Metiers D’Art 2020

Gigi Hadid

(Image credit: Francois Durand)

Metiers D’Art 2020

Amanda Sanchez

(Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain)

Spring 2020 Haute Couture

Ola Rudnicka

(Image credit: Estrop)

Spring 2020 Haute Couture

Chai Maximus

(Image credit: Victor VIRGILE)

Fall-Winter 2020/21 Ready-to-Wear

Steinberg

(Image credit: Pascal Le Segretain)

Fall-Winter 2020/21 Ready-to-Wear

Rianne van Rompaey and Vittoria Ceretti

In today’s world of fast-fashion and ever-changing trends, a CHANEL jacket remains an unerring constant. A confirmed classic since its debut over 60 years ago, its allure continues to seduce women who want to appear of their time and yet, utterly timeless—what other single item of clothing can capture the spirit of the day in the same way? As Chanel herself famously said, “dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”

For more stories like this, including celebrity news, beauty and fashion advice, savvy political commentary, and fascinating features, sign up for the Marie Claire newsletter subscribe here