Coco Chanel era ;Establishment and recognition (1909–1920s) The House of Chanel originated in 1909, when Gabrielle Chanel opened a
millinery shop at 160
Boulevard Malesherbes, the ground floor of the Parisian flat of the
socialite and textile businessman
Étienne Balsan. The
First World War (1914–1918), affected European fashion through scarcity of materials, and the mobilisation of women. By that time, Chanel had opened a large dress shop at 31 Rue Cambon, near the
Hôtel Ritz, in Paris. Among the clothes for sale were
flannel blazers, straight-line skirts of
linen,
sailor blouses, long
sweaters made of
jersey fabric, and skirt-and-jacket suits. Coco Chanel used jersey cloth because of its physical properties as a garment, such as its drape – how it falls upon and falls from the body of the woman – and how well it adapted to a simple garment-design. Sartorially, some of Chanel's designs derived from the military uniforms made prevalent by the War; and, by 1915, the designs and the clothes produced by the House of Chanel were known throughout France. In 1915 and in 1917, ''
Harper's Bazaar'' magazine reported that the garments of La Maison Chanel were "on the list of every buyer" for the clothing factories of Europe. Chanel clothing often featured quilted fabric and leather trimmings; the quilted construction reinforced the fabric, design, and finish, allowing the garment to maintain its form and function while worn. An example is the
woolen Chanel suit – a knee-length skirt and a cardigan-style jacket, trimmed and decorated with black
embroidery and gold-coloured buttons, often accessorized with two-tone
pump shoes, a necklace of pearls, and a leather handbag. ;Business partners (late 1920s) The sales-results of
No. 5 led Coco Chanel to expand perfume sales beyond France and Europe and to develop other perfumes – for which she required investment capital, business acumen, and access to the North American market. To that end, the businessman
Théophile Bader (founder of
Galeries Lafayette) introduced the
venture capitalist
Pierre Wertheimer to Coco Chanel. Their business deal established the Parfums Chanel company, a
parfumerie of which Wertheimer owned 70 per cent, Bader owned 20 per cent, and Chanel owned 10 per cent. Occupied France abounded with rumours that Coco Chanel was a Nazi
collaborator; her clandestine identity was secret agent 7124 of the
Abwehr, code-named "Westminster". As such, by order of General
Walter Schellenberg, of the
Sicherheitsdienst, Chanel was despatched to London on a mission to communicate to British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill the particulars of a "separate peace" plan proposed by
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, who sought to avoid surrendering to the
Red Army of the Soviet Russians. At War's end, upon the
Allied liberation of France, Chanel was arrested for having collaborated with the Nazis. In September 1944, the
Free French Purge Committee, the
épuration, summoned Chanel for interrogation about her collaborationism, yet, without documentary evidence of or witnesses to her collaboration with the Nazis, and because of Churchill's secret intervention in her behalf, the
épuration released Coco Chanel from arrest as a traitor to France. Despite having been freed by the political grace of Churchill, the strength of the rumours of Chanel's Nazi collaboration had made it impossible for her to remain in France; so Coco Chanel and her German lover, Hans Günther von Dincklage, went into an eight-year exile to
Switzerland. ;Resurgence (1950s–1970s) In 1953, upon returning to France from Switzerland, Coco Chanel found the fashion business enamoured of the "
New Look" (1947), by
Christian Dior; the signature shape featured a below-mid-calf-length, full-skirt, a narrow waist, and a large bust (stylistically absent since 1912). As a post–war fashion that used some 20 yards of fabric, the
House of Dior couture renounced wartime rationing of fabric for clothes. After a period of time, Jacques Wertheimer bought the controlling interest of the House of Chanel.
Post-Coco era (1980s–present) In 1981, Chanel launched Antaeus, an
eau de toilette for men. In 1983
Karl Lagerfeld took over as chief designer for Chanel. Like Chanel, he looked into the past as inspiration for his designs. He incorporated the Chanel fabrics and detailing such as tweed, gold accents, and chains. Lagerfeld retained what was signature for Chanel but also helped bring the brand into the present. In later collections Lagerfeld chose to break away from the ladylike look of Chanel and began to experiment with fabrics and styles. During the 1980s, more than 40 Chanel boutiques opened worldwide. By the end of the 1980s, the boutiques sold goods ranging from US$200-per-ounce perfume, US$225 ballerina slippers to US$11,000 dresses and US$2,000 leather handbags. Chanel cosmetics and fragrances were distributed only by Chanel outlets. Chanel marketer Jean Hoehn explained the firm's approach, saying, "We introduce a new fragrance every 10 years, not every three minutes like many competitors. We don't confuse the consumer. With Chanel, people know what to expect. And they keep coming back to us, at all ages, as they enter and leave the market." 1984 saw the launch of a new fragrance in honor of the founder,
Coco. In 1986, the House of Chanel struck a deal with watchmakers and in 1987, the first Chanel watch debuted. By the end of the decade, Alain moved the offices to
New York City. In 1996, Chanel bought gun-makers
Holland & Holland, but failed in its attempt to revamp the firm. Chanel launched the perfumes Allure in 1996 and Allure Homme in 1998. The House of Chanel launched its first skin care line, Précision, in 1999. That same year, Chanel launched a travel collection, and under a license contract with
Luxottica, introduced a line of sunglasses and eyeglass frames. While Wertheimer remained chairman, Françoise Montenay became CEO and President. 2000 saw the launch of the first unisex watch by Chanel, the J12. In 2001, watchmaker Bell & Ross was acquired. The same year, Chanel boutiques offering only selections of accessories were opened in the United States. Chanel launched a small selection of menswear as a part of their runway shows. In 2002, Chanel launched the Chance perfume and
Paraffection, a subsidiary company originally established in 1997 to support artisanal manufacturing, that gathered together Ateliers d'Art or workshops including Desrues for ornamentation and buttons, Lemarié for feathers,
Lesage for embroidery, Massaro for shoemaking and Michel for millinery. A prêt-à-porter collection was designed by Karl Lagerfeld. In July 2002, a jewelry and watch outlet opened on
Madison Avenue. Within months, a shoe/handbag boutique opened next door. Chanel continued to expand in the United States and by December 2002, operated 25 U.S. boutiques. In 2018, Chanel announced relocation of its global headquarters to London. In December of the same year, Chanel announced that it would ban fur and exotic skins from its collections. In February 2019, Lagerfeld died at age 85.
Virginie Viard, who had worked with Lagerfeld at the fashion house for over 30 years, was named the new Creative Director. Viard departed the brand in June 2024. In December 2021,
Leena Nair was appointed Global Chief Executive Officer. In February 2024, Chanel opened its U.S. flagship store dedicated to watches and fine jewellery on
Fifth Avenue in
Midtown Manhattan,
New York City, near
Billionaires' Row. In December 2024,
Matthieu Blazy was appointed the next artistic director of Chanel. Previously, he was creative director of Italian leather goods line
Bottega Veneta where his work garnered critical acclaim and commercial success. In a 2025 Paris fashion week space-themed runway show, Chanel ventured in a new direction with industry insiders attributing the change to Blazy.
Exhibitions and retrospectives The
Palais Galliera featured a retrospective Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto (October 1, 2020 – August 17, 2021). The exhibit later traveled to
Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Tokyo,
National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne (December 3, 2021 – April 25, 2022), and will debut at London's
Victoria & Albert Museum (September 16, 2023). The
ThyssenBornemisza National Museum in
Madrid explored the relationship and reciprocal influence between Pablo Picasso and Gabrielle Chanel with a four-part exhibition (October 11, 2022 – January 15, 2023) spanning their works between 1915 and 1925. The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, home to the annual
Met Gala in the
financial and
fashion capital of
New York City, first honoured the house with a (May 5-August 7) 2005 exhibit chronicling the work of Coco Chanel's designs dating back to the 1920s. The museum's
Costume Institute will unveil a posthumous retrospective, paying homage to former Creative Director,
Karl Lagerfeld (May 5-July 16).
Philanthropy, sustainability, arts and culture Fondation Chanel is the philanthropic arm of the house. Founded in 2011, some of the organization's key initiatives include promoting greater healthcare advocacy; addressing the disparities in gender-based violence; and "accelerating economic agency and empowerment". Fondation Chanel has partnered with organizations in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In January 2024, Chanel launched an initiative with the consortium of 15 cosmetics-manufacturers, called the Traceability Alliance for Sustainable Cosmetics to catalyze traceability in the cosmetics sector.
Arts and culture The Chanel Culture Fund is a global program of initiatives and partnerships. Since its inception, the House has partnered with the
National Portrait Gallery (London),
The Centre Pompidou (Paris), and the
Power Station (Shanghai). The Fund awards an annual prize (Chanel Next Prize) of €100,000 to ten artists in the fields of performing and visual arts. Yana Peel, global head of arts and culture said of the Fund in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, "At a time when we are navigating our way through complex new environments around the world, we know that artists generate transformative ideas that help us envision the way forward. Chanel has always championed the vitality and advancement of the arts, and we now expand that tradition through the Fund with a focus on supporting cultural innovators and path-breakers who are mapping out what's next." ==Corporate identity==