Coco Chanel is known as being one of the main innovators of modern women’s fashion. In fashion, modernity has two possible meanings: the first meaning is that it refers to an aesthetic style, often using minimalist features and solid colors. This look was modern because previously, much of fashion included ornamental features. The minimalist look was different, and because it was outside of what most people were used to at the time, it became identified as modern.

The second meaning of modernity in fashion is that it refers to a specific time period, beginning around the 1930s, up through most of the 20th century. However, the reason Chanel is considered modern, at least according to Catherine Driscoll, is that Chanel is considered modern because it reflected a modern attitude. While this may be expressed in minimalist designs, modernity is considered more of a lifestyle than purely aesthetic look. Coco Chanel is therefore considered a modernist because she represented certain attitudes emerging among women in the early 20th century.

In order to understand exactly why Chanel’s designs were considered modern, it is important to understand fashion trends preceding Chanel’s arrival on the fashion scene, as well as politics that were changing how women were viewed in society. Much of high fashion in the early 20th century mirrored fashion trends for women in the 19th century. This look is most easily identified with the corseted look, in which women wore tight corsets to narrow their waists, and would also have bustles that would make their dress balloon at the hips. Chanel rejected this look, and instead began to create women’s clothing that did not have these features. Instead, she opted for simple one piece designs that were cut to accentuate the feminine form, but without features such as the corset or bustle. Both corsets and bustles were purely ornamental, and had no practical effect other than creating a certain visual look. In fact, corsets are notorious for being extremely uncomfortable to wear, as they squeeze the waist and stomach into an unnatural position.

At the same time the corseted look was beginning to lose popularity in the fashion world, women were also achieving more freedoms than ever before. Women’s suffrage was enacted in the early twentieth century, and more women were beginning to enter the workplace. Previously, women had been relegated to only a few positions in teaching or nursing, and by and large were not expected to work. However, by the 1930s, a little over a decade after women’s suffrage, more and more women were looking for a way to express themselves in a manner different from generations past.

The designs of Chanel ultimately sought to liberate women from the corset, both literally and figuratively. Thus, Chanel’s designs can be seen to have reflected the attitude of the new woman of the 1930’s, who was more independent than her predecessors. Because Chanel did not use the corseted look, she made designs that were relatively simple and elegant, emphasizing a woman’s natural form rather than creating a false ideal that was supported by the corset. Chanel’s designs were intended to be modern, as they were distinguished by their different look, as well as functional and elegant. Collectively, these three features also point toward a certain lifestyle and attitude associated with the new woman.

Women attracted to Chanel’s designs were women who identified with the cultural and social changes that were occurring during this time. Thus, Chanel has come to exemplify modernity, although her designs were not intended to be a political statement, but rather a reflection of how women’s fashion was changing in the 20th century. In this way, she helped define the look of modernity in all three of its possible meanings: she used minimalist designs, allowing fabric to hang naturally on a woman’s form, while also creating her designs during an era that has come to be known as the modern era. Perhaps most importantly, however, she advocated an attitude of the new woman, and her designs achieved worldwide recognition as a result.