90s Chanel: 30 Years On


If you have spent even a fleeting moment on ‘hftwt’ (High Fashion Twitter), you will know it is no secret that this subculture covets 90s Chanel. It is practically a rite of passage to post a four-picture mood board of Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell barely covered by little black dresses, gold chains and interlocking "C"s. Karl Lagerfeld became creative director of the fashion house in 1983, transforming the brand from “near-dead” and achieving icon status in the process. But how has 90s Chanel stood the test of time? Why, 30 years on, are young people still talking about Lagerfeld’s impact?

Taking a look at Fall 1991 Ready-To-Wear, we can see many of the trends often associated with 90s Chanel condensed into one collection. Black and gold is the predominant colour scheme, this combination being timeless and classic. It complements the SFW styles Chanel had been known for up to this point and the racier looks Lagerfeld injected into the brand. This collection is brimming with sexuality – chains, fishnets, camellias as nipple covers (Chanel’s house emblem). It is youthful, it is camp – note the model carrying a spoon to stir her teacup hat and the first instance of Chanel jeans. While this may not seem particularly scandalous in a post-Alexander McQueen world, there were certain rules and expectations for a brand of Chanel’s calibre and Lagerfeld was provocative for the time, leaving just enough room as to not alienate the existing clientele. 
 
As mentioned before, Chanel’s previous aesthetic is still very much present – blazers with shoulder pads, dainty buttons and office-appropriate pumps. However, Lagerfeld couldn’t leave the classics alone either. There are neon blues and pinks, miniskirts, chunky jewellery brandishing the now-unmistakeable “CC” logo – popularised by Lagerfeld in the wake of 80s logomania. While some of it feels like a hangover from the previous decade, many of these looks are still recreated today. Maddy Perez, queen bee of HBO’s ‘Euphoria’, dons a pink and blue co-ord in episode 3, indisputably referencing 90s Chanel. 

A downside of 90s Chanel being the gateway drug into the High Fashion world is that many view it as ‘basic’. Let us not forget the poor girl on Tiktok that labelled the iconic Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1992 ‘chain dress’ as Versace. This dress was repopularised by Lily-Rose Depp wearing it to the 2019 Met Gala, first worn on the runway by Christy Turlington. Despite what wannabe ‘it-girls’ on Twitter will have you believe; I think it is essential that fashion is accessible, and we refrain from gatekeeping. After all, if it hadn’t been for Lagerfeld injecting life into Chanel and making it more approachable for a younger audience, the brand may no longer exist at all. 

This era in fashion will forever be a favourite of mine, as I’m sure it is for many others too. The neutral colour palette, the juxtaposition of formality and sensuality, this winning formula has yet to fail. Lagerfeld rejuvenated Chanel into one of the biggest and most influential fashion houses on the scene, his death in 2019 being a great loss to the brand. It is no wonder that young people longing to work in fashion love 90s Chanel – Lagerfeld created these collections with them in mind.

Comments

  1. Checkmate27 May 2022 at 06:48

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