Chanel And Natalia Goncharova

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Living in a world without innovators and history would create boredom. With boredom we would not have the great designers and artists we are fortunate to have. Chanel being one of the greatest and most famous designers, she created the wearable jersey knit in her every day garments and Natalia Goncharova famous for her originality of Rayonism, a way of painting and expressing ones spiritual beliefs through vibrant colors. These two women have an outstanding place in history creating a more radical and modern way of life through their work.

Chanel (pronounced Shanel) revolutionized Haute Couture at the age of 20. She was a young innovative designer with a strong, unique personality that showed in her designs. She replaced the confining corset design with the comfortable fitting suits and longer, straighter dresses. The silhouette of Chanel’s designs were less form-fitted and more for comfort. The very popular Chanel suit consisted of a knee-length skirt and boxy jacket. Chanel introduced to the world her cardigan jacket in 1925. Her designs were incredibly popular for the elite and powerful. Chanel became a symbol of wealth and status for the majority of the twentieth century.

In 1909, Chanel opened her shop in Paris selling hats. Her hats were worn by famous actresses who helped build the Chanel name. In 1913 she started to use jersey in her fashions. “Her line of jersey clothing was a reaction to the lifestyle changes surrounding WWI” (wikipedia.com/Chanel). In 1914, WWI led to the change in design with the women working in factories instead of the men. They needed warm clothing that would stand up to working conditions. Chanel’s designs were inspired in the time period where women sports were being introduced...

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...the liberties they wanted, they applied for French nationalization on April 14 (Bowlt, 169). Full French citizenship was granted on September 8, which secured their lives, home, and future. They remained in Paris for the duration of the war. Life during the Nazi occupation was hard, but not as hard as one perhaps would expect. There were surprisingly many shows in which both Goncharova and Larionov exhibited. Goncharova also had a commission for a series of plays running in Paris from 1940 to 1942.

Through the hard times both artistic innovators have made history in today’s world. Their art and fashion has inspired us and our current designers to come up with things that are new and exciting. Through our current events and their past experiences and designs, we can create something untouchable that will inspire future artists to keep inventing a work of art.

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