Chanel's black dress

In a move away from excessive lyricism and unnecessary clutter, Coco Chanel launched the “little black dress’ in the early twenties. It was “little” because it was discreet yet essential, minimalist yet elegant, obvious yet sophisticated. A woman dressed in black draws attention to herself, not to her dress. “Nothing is more difficult to make than a little black dress. The entrancing tricks of Scheherazade are much easier to copy,” Mademoiselle Chanel declared, referring to the ostentatious designs of Paul Poiret, in one of her eminently quotable soundbites, a terse judgement that clearly condemned what she found “distasteful”.

Mademoiselle in her studio in the late sixties. As was her custom, garments were desihned, modelled, fitted and constantly, reworked on a live model.

Black knee-length sheath dress with a pastel pink jabot, paired with an out-of-this-world giant camellia. 2002 Spring-Summer Haute Couture.

A classic black dress, with bloused bodice and long sleeves. Reconstruction by Karl Lagerfeld of a design dating from 1926. Photo Karl Lagerfeld.

The black dress in schoolgirl style with white satin collar and cuffs outlined with silver studs. Oversized studs form the sautoirs. Footless tights and shoes with ankle straps. 2003 Autumn-Winter Pret-a-Porter Collection. Photo Karl Lagerfeld.



“The richer the dress, the poorer it becomes, she explained, advocating a nocel kind of “austere luxury” a new fashion language that immediately became a landmark, the quintessence of chic.