Circa 1955-1960
France

A rare and very early Gabrielle Chanel Haute Couture skirt suit from the late 1950s. This astonishing ensemble incorporates all the codes of ‘Mademoiselle’, including this stunning boucle mohair treated as a plaid with large checks and an impressionist fade of colour. The jacket has no buttons and closes at the front with two sheathed hooks (the sheathing is slightly missing). Only two very low pockets complete the jacket's exemplary sobriety. The lining of the jacket and skirt is in ecru raw silk with large parallel stitching, and is sealed with the traditional brass chain. The skirt has a side slit and a wide flap for opening. Unfortunately, the skirt is missing two buttons and the naturally slit cuffs are missing four buttons. The sleeve lining is cream silk pongee and the Chanel label, which is only on the jacket, is sewn with original Couture stitches and does not include a numbered bolduc. No damage to report apart from a natural patina from age and 1cm of wild silk fused to the inside of one cuff. Good overall condition in terms of colour and conservation.

Dimensions: Equivalent to Size 39-42 France
Jacket : Height 57 cm Shoulders 40 cm Sleeves 54 cm Chest 94-98 cm Waist 97 cm Hips 109 cm
Skirt: Height 60 cm Waist 73 cm Hips 98 cm Skirt base 110 cm

In 1953, Chanel's headquarters at 31, rue Cambon, which had closed just before the Second World War, underwent renovations to re-open its doors. Offices, workshops, boutiques and ‘Mademoiselle's’ flat were renovated. There were many reasons for the couturier's return. Above all, Gabrielle Chanel, who had always advocated ‘practical’ fashion for a modern, elegant woman, opposed the fashion designers who were triumphing at the time, such as Dior and Balenciaga, and the corseted fashion that ran counter to the liberated women who had played a role during the war. On 5 February 1954, she presented a collection of 130 creations, including her tweed braided suit. According to the couturier, the Chanel suit was a timeless garment that could be worn both during the day and in the evening, simply by changing the accessories; all of which was out of step with the fashion of the time. Its ‘always impeccable’ fit and comfort were directly inspired by men's wardrobes: Karl Lagerfeld explains: ‘The Chanel jacket is thus a man's jacket that has become a typically feminine garment, which has crossed this boundary and has definitively become the symbol of a certain nonchalant feminine elegance, timeless and timeless, that is to say, of all times’. This suit symbolises Coco Chanel's return to business after several years spent in Switzerland. But the designer's wartime past and the hegemony of silhouettes inherited from Dior's New Look meant that her return was not an immediate success. The European press, especially the French and English, - with the exception of Elle magazine and its editor-in-chief Hélène Lazareff - gave her collection a very bad reception: a ‘fiasco’, a ‘flop’, with austere models that were too ‘out of step’ with the times. For its part, the all-powerful American press, such as Life magazine, which referred to the collection as the ‘Chanel Look’, and Vogue in particular, gave her its support, and orders poured in from the United States. This success, particularly in the United States at first, meant that by the following year, the suit had become a classic and was widely copied; the proliferation of these copies eventually made the suit a ‘symbol of a somewhat traditional bourgeoisie’, but also a symbol of ‘timeless’ elegance sometimes associated with the image of the Parisienne. In the 1960s, Anouk Aimée and Romy Schneider wore the suit, and much later Lady Diana. On 22 November 1963, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas; Jacqueline Kennedy at his side wore a pink Chanel suit.