Chanel's 1954 comeback was met with silence in Paris: Coco Chanel reopened after fifteen years, the French press turned on it
Gabrielle Chanel (@chanelofficial) closed her couture house in 1939 and came back in 1954, in her seventies. The invited buyers and journalists are said to have kept a stony silence through the presentation. American buyers saw it differently, and orders for the suits soon poured in from the United States. Chanel shows in Paris, in the city that took a little longer to come round.
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The post, as it ran
01CHANEL'S COMEBACK WAS A FLOP. COCO CHANEL REOPENED IN 1954 AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS, AND PARIS WATCHED THE SHOW IN STONY SILENCE.
02SHE WAS IN HER SEVENTIES. SHE HAD SHUT HER COUTURE HOUSE IN 1939, AND THE FRENCH PRESS GAVE THE NEW CLOTHES A VENOMOUS RECEPTION.
03THEN AMERICA SAW THE SAME CLOTHES, AND THE ORDERS POURED IN.
04KARL LAGERFELD, WHO LATER RAN CHANEL FOR 36 YEARS, PUT IT BLUNTLY: WITHOUT AMERICA SHE WOULD HAVE CLOSED THE ENTIRE OPERATION.
05PARIS FASHION THEN MEANT CHRISTIAN DIOR AND AN ORNATE, STRUCTURED LOOK. CHANEL WAS SELLING A LOOSE JACKET IN COMFORTABLE WOOL.
06THE V&A MUSEUM IN LONDON HOLDS ONE OF HER SUITS FROM ABOUT 1956: RUST TWEED, SILK LINING, A NAVY JERSEY TOP WITH A BOW.
07THE SUIT PARIS WOULD NOT CLAP FOR IS THE ONE THE WORLD NOW PICTURES WHEN IT HEARS THE NAME CHANEL.