Chanel and Jeans in one sentence? Is it an anomaly, an aberration or perhaps an unorthodoxy?
Chanel is synonymous with opulence, luxury and affluence. It is a status symbol of old money, pedigree and an impeccable taste to be flaunted.
On the other hand, blue jeans usually (before the advent of the $500 price tag jeans) are synonymous with basics, wants and needs. An everyday Joe’s work outfit, an outfit you can simply don on with a t-shirt in order to catch the 5.30 early morning tube to work so as to avoid being late and written up by the supervisor. An outfit that you can wear to work while carrying your lunch pail and also in the evening while taking your kid out for a slice of pizza and coke. No connotation, no inference, not even a whiff of lavishness within miles.
How then is the eponymous name of Madame Coco Chanel associated with “Chanel blue jeans?” How then can a name oozing with hedonism such as Chanel be associated with something as basic as a pair of blue jeans? Well, the jeans are the brainchild erupting from the loins of the genius Monsieur Karl Lagerfeld. He is the master of evolvement, of keeping up with the changing supersonic times and of understanding the evolution of fashion. It was a delight to watch his interviews and to learn from the master himself. To learn how to grab opportunities by evolving with the times.
Jeans have become high fashion, with the advent of brands like Rock and Republic, Citizens of Humanity and Joe’s Jeans carrying heart fluttering price tags touching the range of $500 U.S. dollars. You can see fashion mavens all over the world in varied cut jeans paired with expensive jackets such as Chanel, ballet flats with the double C’s on it and quilted purses with the signature chain and double C’s. It is high-low dressing. Although judging from the price tag of the jeans, there is nothing “low” about it, except for the “rise.”
Mr. Lagerfeld understands what a tour de force fashion is for the young ones in their 20s, 30s and even 40s. (Isn’t 40 the new 30?) He is capitalizing not only on the brand name, but like a lion he has given a taste of the royal blood to his young ones. Once they get hooked on to a drop, they will aspire for the entire prey. Once you own the jeans, what will stop the fashion mavens from saving up for the iconic Chanel tweed jacket or the Chanel ballet flats?
Who will not want to have a piece of the double C’s, even if it starts with the blue jeans? Lagerfeld is the lion who lures the young ones to his lair with the jeans and then inculcates them into the elite club, or should I say CHANEL CULT, thereby capitalizing on it with one “C”!!
