Last week marked the publication of Chanel in Vogue, a two-volume tome that looks at the intersecting histories of the French brand and the magazine between 1910 and 2025. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was at the helm of the maison for a total of 46 years (she shuttered her ateliers during World War II and for some time after); Karl Lagerfeld for 36.
Coco, who designed the clothes she wanted to wear, continues to be the brand’s North Star. Educated by nuns, this headstrong orphaned Frenchwoman turned demimondaine turned businesswoman was not only her own best model but the archetypal modern woman who wanted easy, streamlined clothes she could stride through the world in. She prized action and agency and was dismissive of fellow designers who, in her view, merely used women as canvases for decoration.
Ahead of Matthieu Blazy’s sophomore ready-to-wear collectsion for the brand, and using images that appeared in Vogue, here are some then-and-now connections that show how Coco’s spirit carries on.
