Chanel—the woman in her 真我的女人：香奈儿
1883年于法国出生的嘉伯利·香奈儿（Gabriel Chanel）总会让人联想到浪漫与是非的话题上，纵使她是一个天才设计师。她说她不懂纸样裁剪，但会在布料上用剪刀剪裁款式。20世纪初她是妇女解放先驱，是穿上裤子、放弃紧身胸衣的女强人；她的情史多多，坊间传闻她在“二战”期间与德军官员汉斯·君特·冯·丁克拉格男爵（Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage）交往，更为纳粹做事。她的人生充满传奇，可能年幼时在孤儿院生活欠佳，所以成长后不断往上爬。
香奈儿别名“可可”（Coco）,1909年她开创同名品牌，卖的是帽子，其后卖她所设计的衣服，1921年售卖她的“5号”香水，据说 “5” 是她的幸运号码；1923年她推出著名的及膝套装——深色衣料配上金色纽扣，更以珍珠链配衬； 1926年设计了经典的小黑裙，登在《VOGUE》杂志上。
总体而言，她性格高傲、形象鲜明，喜爱男性化打扮，对自己的设计充满信心。“二战”后她欲卷土重来，但20世纪40年代不敌克里斯蒂安·迪奥（Christian Dior）的新形象。她于1971年1月10日逝世。我想每位女性不分年纪，都希望拥有一个香奈儿包包或一套镶了花边的套装裙，或一支5号香水，因为这代表了一个传奇女子的一生，也是女性的身份象征！
最近5号香水转用巴西名模吉赛尔·邦辰（Gisele Bundchen）做代言人，由好莱坞大导演巴兹·鲁尔曼（Baz Luhrmann）操刀，拍出新时代女性的挣扎：我最想要的是爱情、家庭还是事业？正如香奈儿的一生：最爱是谁？
Born in France 1883, Gabriel Chanel always gave people an impression of romance but also stirring up lots of heat, though a talented fashion designer. She said she knew nothing about pattern making, but she could cut fabrics on a dummy straight away. It is also said she was a strong predecessor in women liberation as she wore pants and rejected to wear corsets by that time. Her love stories were quite a lot too. The most notorious one was she got along with a German officer Baron Hans Ginther von Dincklage during WWII and even worked for the Nazis. It is said that she had a miserable life when small, and she was even put in an orphanage for a while. Perhaps it is the reason why she grabbed every opportunity to get success when grown up.
Her nickname was Coco. In 1909 she started up her brand and opened her shop which sold millinery. Later on she sold her designed clothes. In 1921, she made her famous No. 5 perfume and it is said “5” was her lucky number. In 1923 she made the remarkable knee length women suit by using dark colours of fabric trimmed with gold buttons together with a pearls-of-necklace as an accessory. In 1926, she designed the the famous little black dress and was advertised on Vogue.
To conclude, she was arrogant, sharp, and boyish in styling herself. She felt like she was No. 1 in fashion. After WWII, she wanted to come back, however; she could not compete against “New Look” by Christian Dior in the 1940s. On Jan 10, 1971 she died. Last, I think every woman likes Chanel whoever how old they are, they also hope that they can have a trimmed Chanel suit, or a bottle of No.5 because it means they own the lengardary woman—a priestigous representation of a woman status.
Recently Gisele Bundchen, a Brazilian model who was used a spokeman for No.5. With the help of a Hollywood director Baz Luhrmann, it projected a struggle on a new modern woman between love, family and career. In some way it also reflects on the life of Chanel—Who is the most she loved?
The woman who felt she was No. 1 in fashion. Her name is Gabriel Chanel!
自封为时尚界No. 1的女人。她的名字叫嘉伯利·香奈儿！
Shop in Hong Kong: 10 Chater Road, MF M30 Prince Building, Central, Hong Kong
香港地址： 香港中环遮打道10号太子大厦 MF M30 号铺
Illustration/插图： David Yeung