Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel contained multitudes. Her shadow has loomed large in the fashion world for more than a century—and for good reason. Despite the attempts of various biographers, her legacy defies easy categorization. An underprivileged orphan who rose to become an imperious aristocrat of the mind, she helped create the template for ladylike dressing; but her designs also liberated women from the constraints of the corsets and underpinnings that prevailed before her. “I gave women back their bodies,” she once said.
Fittingly, this confounding lodestar of ultrafeminine chic, who passed away in 1971, was also somewhat of a jock. An adept equestrian, the young Chanel scandalized polite society when she began riding horses astride—a pursuit previously reserved for men—and she debuted a “sport” atelier within her haute couture house circa 1920. That spirit has coursed through the label’s collections ever since, and lives on with this year’s release of the brand’s Sport High Jewelry Collection. Just as Chanel’s deceptively simple sportswear adhered to and moved with a woman’s anatomy (one of her many maxims was that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury”), the exquisite cuffs, earrings, and necklaces in the 80-piece offering are streamlined to adapt to the body’s contours. In creating the collection, Patrice Leguéreau, director of the Chanel Jewelry Creation Studio, was inspired, he says, “by Chanel’s sporty style, which is such an integral part of the house’s history: the elegance of the line and the freedom of movement.”
Gabrielle Chanel with her then lover, Arthur “Boy” Capel, circa 1910.
© CHANEL Archives Privées
This is evident in the baubles’ tapered volumes and clean shapes. An Art Deco–era chevron motif evokes the dynamism Chanel ushered in; so, too, do the shots of blue and red lacquer that play off white gold and diamonds and bring to mind colorful equestrian ribbons. There are fittings drawn from athletic equipment, including a carabiner clasp in the shape of the Chanel No. 5 logo, a “sport cord” chain, and a swivel fastener inspired by the 2.55 bag. Many pieces—such as the Gold Slider Necklace, pictured here—are transformable and can be positioned at different lengths and worn in multiple ways, reflecting Chanel’s commitment to individuality.
The Sport High Jewelry Gold Slider Necklace. For more information visit Chanel.com.
Courtesy of CHANEL
Among Chanel’s most radical gestures was elevating humble costume jewelry to the realm of high fashion. But in 1932, even as she was democratizing stuffy adornments, the designer launched her first high jewelry collection, Bijoux de Diamants, which helped revitalize the diamond market during the Great Depression. She championed piling things on—high and low—and consistently promoted that look herself. This new endeavor is a continuation of that legacy. It features glorious gemstones—including five Kashmir sapphires that took years to source and assemble—set in unconventional materials such as carbon fiber and aluminum. It’s a glittering study in contrasts, worthy of the woman who inspired it.
Lead image clockwise from top left A 1916 illustration of Chanel models in The New York Herald (Getty Images); Gabrielle Chanel her then lover, Arthur “Boy” Capel, circa 1910 (Getty Images; with another beau, Hugh Grosvenor, the second Duke of Westminster, at the Chester Races in England, 1924 (Getty Images); the house’s business card, circa 1920, touted both “couture” and “sport” (Patrimoine de CHANEL, Paris © CHANEL); a mannequin wearing a Chanel necklace and jeweled headpiece, circa 1931 (Getty Images); a first-place rosette ribbon (Getty Images); a scrap of 19th-century French silk trimming with chevron bands, a motif seen throughout the collection (Universal Images Group); the Sport High Jewelry Gold Slider Necklace (Courtesy of Chanel).
