October 11, 2013

Dior and Chanel — High Art?

Published by Wednesday Martin

Here I am with Chanel event hostess Suri Kasirer. The hard working mother of three wore Chanel, and looked amazing. Pardon my Prada!

Jackie Sackler (right) in Dior here embodies the New Dior–sophisticated, easy and very modern. She’s with blogger Dori Cooperman (in Dolce Gabbana) Behind them, purses are lighted and displayed like works of art.

A vignette of old and new at Dior. Like Chanel No 5, Miss Dior anchors the Dior brand. The challenge is to renew established brands and keep them relevant. Parties and affiliations with cultural institutions can help.

This beautiful mural at Dior suggests that shoes, clothing and accessories are wearable art.

In quoting Dada and surrealism, Dior aligns itself with a complex historical, intellectual and artistic movement of the post-war period. These are shoes, by the way

Dress detail at Dior. The texture was sculptural, suggesting hours of work, and the nipped waist and strapless design quoted “old” Dior. By which is meant Dior’s “New Look” of the late 40s/early 50s

The Dior boutique is designed like an elegant home or salon. Clothing hangs in closets. Here’s a beautiful table behind a comfy sofa.

This whimsically opulent sculpture–like a giant earring–was affixed to a mirror.

An architectural reinterpretation of the high heel at Dior. Such reworkings of classic forms may be the central mission of fashion.

Clever slippers subvert the expectation of a high heel entirely. Flats for evening are new. And great if you’re tall like Dior evening co-hostess Jackie Sackler.

A rock and roll/ vaguely S&M reinterpretation of the tiny waist Christian Dior popularized with his New Look, beginning in 1947.

At the Chanel SS14 show in Paris, Lagerfeld turned icons of the Chanel brand–such as the interlocking Cs– into “high art.” The intersection of fashion and art can be lucrative.

The Julliard musicians were there because the Chanel event is to benefit Lincoln Center, of which Julliard is a part. They also gave the event a dose of highbrow, high art refinement.

Karl Lagerfeld has successfully modernized Chanel season after season. This zig zag belt with studs adds a streetwise vibe to a wool skirt. The lace is a surprising contrast.

A wrap in a classic Chanel tweed colorway. Lots of women in Manhattan wear wraps all Fall long. I love this woman’s bob.

Here’s a classic Chanel look–nubby tweed–on a businesswoman at the event. Note the wallets displayed like framed art in the background.

Tweed with sparkles. This type of mix-up is true to Coco Chanel’s original mission to shake up tradition….

Classic Chanel quilted leather evening bag. Coco Chanel made costume jewelry cool and Chanel has made it their thing to this day.

Quilted Chanel jacket–like a Chanel quilted bag writ large–at Chanel event.

The classic Chanel pearl details have migrated to the heel of this boot.

Luxe gold heels on display at Chanel. High heels are an important part of the Manhattan mom uniform. Loyalties teeter between platforms and the classic single sole stiletto at the moment.

Leather is huge this season. This jacket has compelling stringy details. Recently I saw a soignee 70 year old woman at the Council on Foreign Relations in a black leather biker jacket. Leather has gone mainstream.

Amazing workmanship on the collar of a leather Chanel jacket.

Azzedine Alaia shoe at Chanel. Stringy leather again. Black pedi for fall…

Black lace at Chanel event. Is it naughty or nice? Lagerfeld has long enjoyed posing such questions.

Texture and color, like the bright red fur on this Chanel bag, allow designers to present essentials as “ever new.”

The camellia flower, like costume jewelry, has long signified “Chanel.” So have the modern black and white graphics.

In an era of multinational conglomerates controlling dozens of fashion brands, and designers designing for more than one house, or moving from one to the other, what is a fashion brand? What is a fashion designer? And how and why do women choose the ones they do?

I've long been interested in how the tribe of Manhattan moms I live among and study decides who — and what — to wear. Lately popular brands include Chloe, Alexander McQueen, Isabel Marant, Givenchy, Stella McCartney and Alexander Wang. There is something of a tribal obsession with Hermes, but that's for another post.

Dior and Chanel are two "historic" brands that have undergone revovations, if you will, over the years. Karl Lagerfeld refreshes Coco Chanel's original mission — to free women from flounces and ruffles and create clothes that are modern, chic and luxe — year after year. Raf Simons has been tapped by Dior to continue to evolve that brand (John Galliano had brilliantly revived it from ladylike, somnambulant irrelevance, but his career sputtered after his anti-semitic rants in a Paris bar in 2011).

The tribe I study is coming around to Dior in a big way. And Chanel has always been on their radar, something their mothers might have worn, but still relevant and desirable. Both Dior and Chanel recently hosted events in New York City, parties that mixed high art, high fashion and commerce. These types of events are popular in Manhattan — you can show you care about a cultural institution while getting up close to the clothing and accessories after hours, with your friends, in an atmosphere that is more intimate and club-like than commercial. Yep, you can have a glass of champagne while you shop.

Jacqueline Sackler recently co-hosted an event at Dior's New York City Boutique on E. 57th St, in celebration of the upcoming Guggenheim Gala. We got to see what was going on with Dior — a lot — and a portion of all sales went to the Guggenheim Foundation. Days later, powerhouse Suri Kasirer co-hosted an event at Chanel on Madison Avenue to benefit Lincoln Center. At his Spring/Summer 2014 show in Paris recently, Lagerfeld converted the runway at the Grand Palais into an "art gallery" — white walls showcased sculptures and paintings of Chanel icons (the bottle of No 5, the interlocking Cs). And at the Chanel event on Madison Avenue, young musicians from Julliard played classical music while attendees sipped, nibbled and browsed.

Is this juxtaposition of high art and fashion a way to make buying luxury items more "meaningful" and highbrow? Is it a strategy to elevate luxury goods into the category of collectibles, like painting and sculpture? Or is it a way to give conspicuous consumption an aspect of depth, seriousness and do-good-ism? Patterns of charitable giving and socializing in Manhattan may be shifting. But the women remain ever fashionable.

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Dior and Chanel — High Art?