Chanel: the New Woman as Dandy

This 2,400-word article appears in both the English and the French editions of the exhibition catalogue for 'Gabrielle Chanel: Manifeste de Mode' (shown at the Musée de la Mode, Palais Galliera, Paris, 1 October 2020 – 14 March 2021). It analyses Chanel’s life and career in relation to the 19th century male dandy and the 20th century ‘New Woman’, arguing that the former ceded cultural space to the latter at the turn of the century. The article draws significantly on Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly’s 19th century text ‘On Dandyism and George Brummell’ in order to evaluate dandyism in relation to attitude, gesture and stance, and not only to fashionable dress. It thus contributes to the history of the body and of sensibilities as well as of fashion.