Coco Chanel: A Transformational Leader with An Eye for Elegance

Introduction

An uproar of societal changes greeted the West after the halt of World War I. More specifically, the introduction of the new decade, being the 1920s, redefined womanhood and prepared the grounds for an uptake of influence and cultural edge. Western societies indulged in a more progressive lifestyle that favored a step towards identical rights for both genders. The flapper was the ultimate beacon for women during this time. She was hot-headed and gregarious with an inclination towards an elegant aesthetic that permitted for a newfound sense of freedom. Having said that, fashion designer Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, globally well-known as Coco Chanel, contributed vastly to this feminist wave during this time-period and onwards. She became a muse for many artists and designers that came after her, but she was also cold and ruthless having been exposed by the French Intelligence for her collaboration with the Nazis. Chanel was branded a transformational leader due to her ethic and impact, and throughout this paper the reasons as to why she was given this title will be examined with close-up examples of her path.

Who is Coco Chanel?

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born on the 19th of August in 1883, in Saumur France. Her undenied success that arrived later was no match to her early childhood in which she and her siblings grew under very poverty-stricken conditions. In fact, when Chanel was just 11 years old, her mother fell fatally sick. Sometime later, upon their father’s return, the body of their lifeless mother was found in the same room as the children after an unknown amount of time (Alston, 2014, p.6). An event as such is, to say the least, traumatizing for a anybody let alone a child. Later on, Chanel remained an orphan and found herself in the care of nuns who also taught her how to sew; a skill which she definitely exploited.

The traces of her misery-ridden early life was something Chanel tried to cover up. “A number of years later, Chanel would attempt to have her birth records erased out of a burning, undying desire to hide her humble upbringing, although she was unsuccessful in doing so,” (Alston, 2014, p.4). Throughout her self-made success, she often fabricated stories to conceal the truth. She was embarrassed and later on after her recognition accelerated, she seemed to flaunt her money and success a lot. This shame she conveyed towards her childhood definitely played a role in the persona she created for the public later on.

She founded Chanel in Paris, just a decade into the 20th century when businesswomen were yet close to a nonexistent count. Subsequently, Coco Chanel remains an iconic figure of high-end fashion. The success of the brand, as well as the leader herself, was prominent in the first few years but did not accelerate until the 1920s “as she created her first perfume, No. 5 in 1921 and her iconic little black dress in 1926,” (Simon, 2011, p. 2). Her vision entailed grandiose changes for women at the time because her style was androgynous, subsequently revolutionizing their wardrobes. What does this mean? It means that the way she dressed and presented herself incorporated both female and male elements, something extremely new and innovative during the time of her success. This change stood on the opposite side of the spectrum from the one woman were at during this time. Ventilation-cutting corsets, floor-length dresses and over-the-top accessories metamorphosed into sweaters, shirts with open necklines to reveal chic accessories like a simple pearl bead necklace, and clothing made of material associated with menswear like tweed and jersey (Simon, 2011, p.2).

By the time she reached thirty, she launched her first fashion boutique in Deauville, a small town in Normandy. The town might have been small, however it was a nest for the rich; “one of the most popular seaside locales of the French Belle Époque, where trends were set and people went to be seen,” (Glass, 2018). This went for Chanel, herself. She wanted to be seen, no longer needing to forge stories to cover for her substandard past. She had rebranded her persona from point zero and had extracted this glamorous alter-ego which was made to lead.

Characteristics of leadership communication style

Chanel’s pioneering success birthed many trends and movements in the high-fashion world and subsequently contributed to transformation. Her self-made reinvention very soon became the reason as to why she was and still is characterized as a transformational leader.

This new approach to perceive the leadership style of an individual was introduced during the 1970s by James MacGregor Burns, subsequently characterizing it as ‘complex’ and ‘potent’ (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, p. 106). Evidently, there are certain characteristics that abide by this style of leadership, which need to be embodied by the leader in order to make them transformational. According to Johnson and Hackman there are four dimensional factors that describe a transformational leadership, and these are: charisma, individualized consideration, inspiration and intellectual stimulation all the while being creative, interactive, visionary, empowering and passionate (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, p. 106).

If we take each factor individually, we can effortlessly detect them throughout Chanel’s very time-lasting career. Primarily, she had impeccable charisma. Having charisma entails, “provide vision and a sense of mission; inspire; build trust and respect,” (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, p. 107). The mission and vision she had for her brand was very specific, and at the time quite controversial considering the chokehold society had over women until then. The mission of Chanel was to build a feminine closet from items and materials that were considered masculine pieces. This was done with a singular goal to inspire and make a difference amongst the lot. Anyhow, there could have not been a better time for Chanel to design clothing which broke down societal barriers between the genders, other than the 1920s. The globally-known Roaring Twenties called for greater universality and a new approach towards femininity that took up a different look than what it was used to.

Moreover, individualized consideration means to coach and advise each individual subordinate (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, p. 107). This practically indicates the extent to which the leader attends to their followers’ expectations. In fact, this is very evident through her completely eliminating corsets. “The corset, a prime example, was like many other tools used by male-dominated societies to deform and subdue women. The corset that Chanel rebelled against was extremely unhealthy and cruel to women,” (Ralph, 2018, p. 25). She had the desire to attend to women and facilitate their lives whilst doing so in a chic and alluring way. The way she was considered a third-wave feminist indicated that she did not wish to reject femininity because it can perhaps be considered as a socially constructed box in which women can get trapped, but she wanted to embrace it. Nowadays, this seems like a very common mindset to abide by, but feminism during the early 20th century differed from feminism now.

The third dimensional factor is inspiration, meaning the ability “to communication high expectations, use symbols to focus efforts and enhance understanding of goals,” (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, p. 107). As discussed until now, Chanel is a moving inspiration through the decades and this is solemnly speaking about her timeless impact and what she managed to achieve as a businesswoman, without taking into consideration her other endeavors. Speaking of symbolism, the logo the fashion house was created during its first years. The two Cs intertwined, which obviously stand for Coco Chanel, are simple yet geometric and elegant, which at this point is subconsciously linked with prestige and class. “The use of symbols is a common element in the transformational leadership communication that can bring statement and unity,” (Rolph, 2010, p.21) Symbols are a vital component when it comes to mass recognition and familiarity. The same way, a symbol can also be a signature product. A very fitting example would be the couture house’s most famous perfume, Chanel No. 5. This also exhibits Chanel’s great impact as well, and the way she was looked up to. One of the most famous quotes that has withstood the test of time is that by Marilyn Monroe who, when asked what she wears to bed she famously responded: nothing but Chanel No. 5 (Simon, 2011, p. 5). Chanel was definitely an inspiration and perhaps a beacon of femininity and elegance, and she became so after combatting with traditional feminine values.

The last dimensional factor is intellectual stimulation which enumerates innovative ways through which one can view a situation (Johnson & Hackman, 2018, p. 107). One of Chanel’s most timeless and innovative creations was the famous little black dress. Due to this day, after one hundred years, a little black dress sits in most women’s closets, embracing the same value and purpose as Chanel had in mind when coming up with it. During the 1920s, the color black did not have a positive connotation to it; it was either associated with mourning or with the working class. However, Chanel being a visionary, she saw quite the potential in the elegance of the color and the way it accentuates the body. She wanted to create a statement piece, which could be paired with the chunky jewelry she was also making. To design a minimalistic, statement clothing piece at the time, was trailblazing amongst flashy and colorful fashion trends.

Coco Chanel Through the Media

Media presence is very determining for a leader, because it plays a huge role on how their audience perceives them. Obviously, when discussing Coco Chanel, there is nothing to say about current social media presence, but she had appeared on every traditional media platform. Whenever she posed for pictures, she gave off a certainty that never made people question whether she knows what she was doing or not; it was obvious that she did. She was a woman who was admired whether this was because of how she stood, what she wore or how she spoke. In a picture taken during the first years of her career, “despite her youth, she exudes the aura of someone who knows where she is going,” (Sgueglia, 2020, p. 17). This determinism conveyed confidence and certainty to her followers, building her character through the way she was making people admire her. Certainly, she admired herself as well in order to have this energy revolving around her.

In another picture taken in Deauville, the prestigious city in which her first boutique store was located, she is seen posing in trousers “a then-shocking choice that paved the way for women in the future,” (Webb, 2020). This bold, at the time, choice of clothing, which acted as a symbol of rebellion against societal constructions of gender, enticed women who desired to follow in her footsteps. “Chanel made sure to be photographed wearing only her own designs while living the life she knew her customers already lived, or wished to live, and fusing her public life to her art,” (Koda & Bolton, 2005, p. 23).

In 1928, she is seen in a photograph which was taken in the villa she purchased, La Pausa. This picture is depicted in the original Chanel website, on which her key life moments are enumerated by decade. The picture almost makes one look away in intimidation. The woman is dressed and accessorized to impress, standing straight up as if there is nothing that can make her flinch. Once again, she appears assertive and almost as if she is floating on an invisible pedestal.

Later on, she seemed to exude a sense of superiority. “Resting on the sofa…Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel poses in a photograph taken in 1937 by Jean Moran. She looks like someone from a bygone era, maybe Cleopatra taking a break… emotionally crushed by a wave of ‘ennui,’” (Sgueglia, 2020, p.1) This wave of ennui, otherwise known as lack of excitement, gave her an attitude of dominance, indicating that nobody was capable of impressing her.

In a video interview conducted in 1959, and this was many years after the previously discussed photographs, Coco Chanel gives her expert opinion on fashion trends (Utopian Magazine, 2020). She is seen wearing one of her signature tweed suits, along with a hat. She is not sitting down, but she is moving around while one hand has a constant hold of a cigarette and the other is deep in the pocket of her skirt. Her posture has the androgynous characteristics she always did in her mannerism and style, yet she remains a mascot of femininity.

Moments of Crisis

Coco Chanel found herself and her business caught in two vast and global moments of crisis throughout her career; World War I and World War II. This did not halt her vision at all, as she responded quickly and efficiently during these moments.

During WWI, and whilst this was during the very beginning of her business, Chanel sold more clothes than she ever had up until that point. The whole ideology of her clothing was that it had to be functional, yet pretty and elegant to the eye. During the war, women were taking responsibilities that were supposedly manly, since men had gone off to war. This meant that they needed comfort, and there was no one better who could provide for them other than Chanel, “she made work clothes that had style and provided function,” (Rolph, 2010, p. 38). She saw an opportunity and she exploited it to her interest. This might sound somewhat bittersweet, however, to lead a business one must acquire traits like these.

The outbreak of WWII was different, however. It has now recently been confirmed through official documents that were released by the French Intelligence that Coco Chanel worked as a Nazi spy. Her involvement was based on her speculations that the Germans were going to win the war, therefore her being the high-risk profiteer that she was, she decided to side with them. All the while, she engaged in a romantic relationship with one of them, which is confirmed through the book that was released about them called Sleeping With the Enemy. Through her transformational leadership skills, she attempted to negotiate a peace treaty with Winston Churchill with whom she shared a friendship (Rolph, 2010, p. 43). It is evident that she had the skills of a leader; otherwise, she would not engage in situations like these. After the Germans had been beaten down to an armistice, Chanel was arrested and trialed. She, then, took it upon herself to erase any evidence she could.

Conclusion

Overall, a transformational leader must abide by specific traits. The foundations on which Chanel is build on are rock-solid, due to Coco Chanel’s impeccable abilities to lead and succeed. “Chanel asserted her personality so powerfully that “wearing a Chanel” turned into “wearing Chanel” (Koda & Bolton, 2005, p.24). This was an extremely determinant factor, the way she made people start saying that they were dressing in the persona that she so victoriously built. She transformed fashion trends irreversibly, and her impact still exists around us a whole century later. It is important, however, to acknowledge that she was a cruel woman and even though this correlates with the extent of her power and skills, it does not alter all she left behind.

Works Cited

Alston, I. (2014). Coco Chanel. TAJ Books International.

Glass, J. (2018, May 28). A Look at the Sleepy Seaside Resort in France ​that Changed Coco Chanel’s Life. CR Fashion Book. https://www.crfashionbook.com/culture/a20918524/coco-chanel-deauville-history-fashion-film/

Johnson, C. E., & Hackman, M. Z. (2018). Leadership: A communication perspective / Craig E. Johnson, Michael Z. Hackman.

Koda, H., & Bolton, A. (2005). Chanel. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Rolph, T. (2010). Coco Chanel: A Transformational Leader. Theses and Graduate Projects. https://idun.augsburg.edu/etd/912

Sgueglia, R. (2020). The Real Coco Chanel. White Owl.

Simon, L. (2011). Coco Chanel. Reaktion Books.

Utopian Magazine. (2020, December 8). Coco Chanel Interview 1959. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK1IfRDmT8E

Webb, A. (2020, August 26). The Evolution of Feminist Style. CR Fashion Book. https://www.crfashionbook.com/culture/a22736609/feminist-style-evolution-history/