The Enduring Allure Of A Chanel Tweed Jacket | British Vogue
The late Karl Lagerfeld had a flair for giving aphoristic one-liners. Here’s one that still rings true: “There are things in fashion that never go out of style: jeans, a white shirt and a Chanel jacket.” Indeed, Chanel’s classic bouclé tweed jacket ranks highly on the wish lists of fashion’s elite. A firm favourite among editors, influencers and Hollywood’s finest, everyone from Princess Diana to Brigitte Bardot to Kate Moss has worn the instantly recognisable style.
So it may come as a surprise to know that the uniquely storied jacket was originally inspired by a menswear design. Conceived of by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in the 1920s, the designer was influenced by the men’s tweed fishing and hunting jackets worn by her lover the Duke of Westminster on his sporting estate, Reay Forest, in Sutherland, in the north-west Highlands. It took her until 1954 to design the tweed jacket for women, in itself a retort to the hyper-feminised outfits of the early 1950s, and her attempt to help women feel more powerful.
In a film released by the house in 2013, Chanel is captured saying: “The hardest thing about my work is enabling women to move with ease, to move like they’re not in costume. Not changing attitude, or manner, depending on their dress – it’s very difficult. And the human body is always moving.” Her tweed bouclé jacket, which reinvigorated the coarse, Scottish fabric, allowing women to move freely thanks to its loose fit and gently cropped sleeves, was an instant hit.
43 Classic Photographs That Prove Coco Chanel’s Taste Never Wavered
Gallery
43 Photos
Various iterations of the Chanel staple have appeared on red carpets, talk show couches, royal tours and state occasions ever since. It has featured in numerous Chanel collections, including many by the late Lagerfeld, who reenergised the style season in, season out during his 36-year tenure at the Paris house. Earlier this year, Lyst reported a 74 per cent spike in searches for “vintage Chanel jackets” after Taylor Swift appeared on the cover of the January 2020 issue of British Vogue wearing an archive tweed Chanel jacket from the house’s Métiers d’Art Paris-New York 2005 collection.
Editor-in-chief Edward Enninful was keen to feature the timeless piece, and remarked at the time: “It’s the ultimate sign of luxury, it has never gone out of fashion, and it never will.” Below, witness the enduring allure of Chanel’s hit jacket.
