The Classic Chanel Woman in Spring/Summer 2015

The Chanel Spring/Summer 2015 collection seamlessly meshed the old and the new to highlight the classic Chanel woman. With the pro-female protest at the end of the show and the presence of “He for She” amongst the sea of signs, the media quickly connected the show to feminism. Upon scrutinous inspection, however, the nod toward Emma Watson’s UN speech seems to be more of a sly marketing afterthought rather than a political intention. Instead, the show seemed more concerned with touting the timelessness of the quintessential Chanel woman.

Since the 1920s, Chanel has promoted the idea of a self-sufficient, working woman. The start of the show immediately injected this sense of female strength into the audience with attention-demanding drumbeats that infiltrated the room with an authoritative atmosphere. Models strutted down the catwalk side by side, evoking the image of a sartorially savvy militia, whilst the background music played the words, “I don’t care, baby, I’m not scared", on repeat.

The first batch of looks from the collection continued to evoke this dominance with an homage to Chanel’s iconic tweed suits. The boxy silhouette of Karl Lagerfeld’s tweed suits directly saluted Coco Chanel’s masculine ones from the 20s. Her “comme des garcons” look, which freed the female body, supported the idea of a self-reliant, career woman.

 This idea of liberation weaved itself into the next group of looks, which contained paint-splattered blazers and skirts that reflected the freedom of expression in graffiti walls. There were also vibrant, watercolored floral prints on pants and jackets-- painted by Mr. Lagerfeld himself! Both forms of art-inspired pieces seemed to emit an I-can-do-whatever-I-want attitude, especially with Lagerfeld plopping his own paintings onto clothes (who needs a Mondrian when you can slap your own aesthetic creations onto dresses?). That’s independence for ya. 

    All the potent, exonerated energy culminated and exploded in the form of a blood-pumping protest at the end of the show. 

As previously stated, models flooded the runway with “He for She” picket signs-- a blatant reference to Emma Watson’s UN speech on feminism. But the “Ladies First” sign and the we-want-to-be-chic shouts disclosed that the show was, in fact, not about Watson’s feminism. Since her speech advocated equality between males and females, signs such as, “Ladies First” and “History is Her Story", which place women above men, directly contrast “He for She”. Although one could argue that the female-over-male mantra mirrors New Age feminism, the contradicting signs, cries for “chic", and the nonsensical “Free Freedom” make the protest more theatrical and less political. It was a smart move for Lagerfeld to piggyback off of contemporary buzz on feminism (because what’s a Chanel show without the bang?), but the closing protest was not a fight for feminism; it was a display of the fight in the Chanel woman. The aforementioned independent, working woman full of sophistication and verve who still commands relevance in today’s world. Because a powerful, well-dressed woman is never out of style.