1) Why did you choose Chanel for your internship?

I chose Chanel because I wanted to go into fashion at the time and I had the
name of the person in Human resources. I sent them my resume and
portfolio and several emails showing that I was really interested in working
with them. It also helped that I was a French American citizen so I didn't
have to go through a lot of paperwork to get the work visa etc.

2) What are some of your lasting impressions about working for them?

After working at Chanel I was blown away by the perfection and intense
quality of the work from concept to product. It was amazing and also left me
a little intimidated in my own fashion/sewing work. The seamstresses at
Chanel are some of the best in the industry. Also I left with the knowledge of
how "couture" works. As you probably know couture is a lot like fine art, each
piece costs tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce and a lot of
time and people. Now I look back I really appreciate that couture is still an
industry (though its not always for profit) I feel like its presence to the rest of
fashion is important. Basically in couture, designers have the freedom to
push concepts and craftsmanship rather than just design and aesthetics.

3) From your experiences, how do you feel that Chanel is different and
distinguished from other fashion houses?

Chanel today still has the essence of what it was back in the early 1900s.
The design then was focused solely on women and also grace and simplicity.
Today Karl Lagerfeld takes that into consideration and will reference things
like necklines for example in the more contemporary collection. Another
thing that he does is he still redoes the Chanel suit in almost every
collection. In comparison to other fashion houses Chanel can be described as
classy, elegant, sophisticated, timeless. It’s almost the opposite of Dior,
which is still classy but is much louder and more on edgy.

4) How do you think Coco Chanel, specifically, contributed to the fashion

industry? What are some of her historical impacts?

Chanel, as a person, was what a model for what women could do on their
own in a male dominated society. She was never married and had a few
romantic involvements with powerful men but her work was definitely her
passion and priority. She also popularized suits and pant suits for women.
Removed the corset and restrictive clothing (in contrast male designers like
Christian Dior were trying to polarize the imagined female form with corsets).
Basically she broke down what was the female silhouette and made a new
and more comfortable look. Also her influence in the scholar and political
community can definitely be noted. And that girl was working till the end of
her life, she put everything into Chanel, as an artist you can see that she
made something new and drew deeply from within to create the aesthetic
and style of Chanel.
5) How has Coco Chanel influenced the society and women that differs from
other designers? Do you think that she influenced the feminist movement of
the 20th century?

See above for the first part of the question. As to feminist movement I
wouldn't say that she was active in the First-wave movement. Coco was
ahead of her time for sure and I think what she did applies more to 2nd wave
feminism. And even though she never married or fell into the role of wife or
mother in nuclear family and in society I think that she was just strongly
independent and those choices were not because she was independent of
men or anything. However if we are looking at the fashion and the designs
that she made for women I'd say those have a taste of what was happening
in 1900s and feminism. The crossing and borrowing from menswear allows
us to think of gender roles and switching those up. Looking at what is
happening today (and for the past 20-30 years) in the feminist movement
there is more interest in crossing/transcending/abolishing societies gender
roles and some of the work that Chanel designed speaks to that shift.

6) Do you see parts of modern culture that could have been influenced by
Coco Chanel? What are they?

Well as you can see above I think you could maybe make those types of ties
between feminism/politics today and Chanel back then. Also because Chanel
is such a strong "brand" it speaks to the consumer culture today and when
you break it down its interesting that people want Chanel because is means
'rich' as appose to 'high quality'. You can see this in all the knock off Chanel
handbags and sunglasses etc. Or in from a style perspective you wear
Chanel of Chanel look-a-likes to be stylish, and also encompass the other
signatures of the company like classy, sophisticated, expensive, simple,
black and white etc.

7) Would you like to add anything else about Coco Chanel, her innovative
ideas, and her influence upon the world?

There’s so much to say. I guess that my in my experience it was just

interesting that Chanel is a company that keeps its traditions and because of
that is still high quality and evokes that same feelings. Also I love that at the
same time that it keeps these traditional qualities it can also be very forward
thinking and edgy