Chanel Tweed

We get the picture: each detail of the Chanel brand was inspired by one of the major events in the life of Coco, and tweed is no exception. This trans-Channel fabric came from the man she shared her life with: the Duke of Westminster. The richest man in England, with a British elegance to match that would woo her for six whole years. The relationship allowed Gabrielle to discover the English countryside and all its quirks, including tweed. Usually worn by men in winter, appreciated for its resistance, it was an integral part of her lover’s wardrobe. Famous for taking as much from the men’s wardrobe as possible to bequeath it to women, Gabrielle Chanel struck once again. She repurposed the wardrobe of the Duke and his compatriots to feminize it as much as possible, establishing this ever so British fabric as one of the codes of the most Parisian label there ever was.

Chanel presented tweed in her own special way in 1954, years after the end of her relationship with the Duke of Westminster. 1954 marked the reopening of the house on the rue Cambon, and just for the occasion, she came out swinging. Tweed took the shape of a small jacket with golden buttons that is still part of the brand’s reputation today. But Chanel’s tweed wasn’t English tweed; it was more supple, less faded, more feminine, and definitely freer. After all, freedom of movement for women was always the effect sought by the couturier, and she kept her promise. Americans were the pioneers, the first to adopt tweed à la Chanel. The French followed them, and the rest of the world with them. An infatuation for tweed has continued ever since, whether worn on a jacket, a skirt, or a full suit. Chanel never abandoned it and continues to reinvent it each season. While the most emblematic tweed remains black and white, today it’s decked out in pink, brown, blue, and transforms upon contact with other colors throughout the seasons without ever losing its true nature, especially when it tries its hand at leather goods. Karl Lagerfeld has been able to give this fabric, traditionally considered stuffy and rather bougie, a seductive, trendy, and totally contemporary side without losing anything in the way of elegance. Chanel tweed is something to be inherited, something to be preciously, even jealously, kept. In short, it’s something to be handed down through the ages, since it’s always a safe bet to go with tweed.