1920.Women.LondonUndelivered

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We want to take you on a journey through time

CONTENTSUndelivered

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20Current Trends

Derived from the 1920s

24A 1920s London Girl

A photographic shoot

28Chanel

An article on the iconic designer

50Vorticism

British art movement

40She Waits

A photographic shoot

14Flappers

The modernised 1920s woman

Front cover

A visual representation of London in the 1920s

Photographer - Camilla Matthews

EditorialUndelivered

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Dear Reader,

I would firstly like to invite you on this exciting journey you are about to begin, which will take you back through time to showyou exquisite photography and enhanceyour knowledge with information on fashion, art and cultures from different eras.

Each Issue will take you on a new journey to show you life in a different period of time and in a new city. Not only will you be falling in love with differentfashions, cultures and cities worldwide, through stunning visuals you will be developingan understanding of where inspiration fortoday’s fashions has come from. This quarterly magazine will run all the way up to the 21st century portraying different lifestyles and cultures in society.

Welcome to Issue 1, you are in the 1920s in the heart of the British capital, you are a woman of style and wish to express yourselfthrough fashion, dance and social activities.

CONTRIBUTORS

UndeliveredContributors

EditorCamilla Matthews

Assistant EditorLorenzo Toumazos

Creative Director

Photographer

Carly Brown

Jeremy Barton

Advertisement DirectorRachel Forster

ModelCaroline Fisher

Art DirectorLouise Domaille

Marketing DirectorNicole Matthews

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Let’s start with issue 1.

An era you have not experienced.

In a country you know so well.

An era of liberation.

That brought about a new identity.

An identity that may be depicted in your style.

Welcome to a whole new world.

1920.Women.London.

UndeliveredFlappers

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‘Flappers’ was a term used to describe a new and modernised woman of the 1920s. These women revolutionised the 1920sby taking on new activities and fashion trends. They wore short skirts, had bobbed hair, listened to jazz, they wore makeup,drank alcohol and treated sex in a casual manner.

Flappers’ behaviour redefined women’s roles and was seen as outlandish for that particular era. The general image of flappers were young women who went to jazz clubs and danced provocatively, smoked cigarettes through long holders and dated freely. Later their development of dance styles were considered shocking such as the Charleston, the Shimmy, the Bunny Hug and the Black Bottom.

Flappers became working outside of the home and began to participate in social activities that challenged traditional societal roles, for example, they supported voting and women’s rights.

As well as their impertinent behaviour they were also renowned for their style, which largely emerged as a result of French fashions. Flapper style made women look young and boyish with short hair, flattened breasts and straight waists.

Current Trends derived from the 1920sUndelivered

Miss SelfridgeZaraTopshopRiver Island

These selected dresses in a neutral colour palette are a perfect representation of a typical flappers daytime dress. The following page shows similar styles in a darker colour palette more likely to be worn as evening wear. These styles are

being seen all over the catwalks for Spring/Summer 2012.

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All SaintsMangoFrench Connection New Look

These similar styles in a darker colour palette are more likely to be worn as evening wear. The embellishment detailing is a key feature in these elegant evening dresses.

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A 1920s London girlUndelivered

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Jacket - MangoDress - Zara

Dress - MangoGloves - Zara

Dress - Topshop

Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel came from nothing to be one of the greatest fashion designers of all time. Her timeless pieces have attracted customers for generations and have continued to do so after her death in 1971. Today, the Chanel brand is more popular than ever. Coco once said, “Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity.” This simple quote sums up just how level headed she was and beautifully portrays her brand ethos.

Chanel is one of the most iconic fashion houses in the world. Founded by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (‘Coco’ coming from a nickname from when she was a singer) and specialising in luxury goods: haute couture, ready-to-wear, perfumes, handbags, jewellery, accessories and cosmetics. The Chanel logotype is an interlocking C, one facing backwards and one forward. It was not the original logo that Coco Chanel came up with but was given to her by the Chateau be Creman in Nice but was not trademarked until the opening of the first store. It has been the brand signature ever since. Her timeless classics - tweed suits, elegant dresses, quilted bag, gold chain, camellia, pearls - all conveyed casual elegance and remain at the core of the collection.

In 1921 the famous No.5 perfume was formulated and for generations has been one of a women’s most desired perfumes. According to Justine Picardie, author of Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life, Coco’s was said to be ‘the perfect model for her fashion house – slim, lithe and active and she was the first designer to let that style reach women of all different walks of life’. She also had an inherent elegance coupled with a down to earth attitude. This came from her background and was reflected within her work.

Gabrielle Chanel born August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France was a ‘strong determined character, bright and eager to succeed’. Her father was said to have come from a tough peasant background and was rarely there to support the family. Her Mother died when she was only twelve causing the family to split up and Coco to be put in an orphanage. It was this early experience that gave Chanel the desire and drive to succeed. Her personal attitudes and style - for example her boyish figure, cropped hair, tanned skin, active lifestyle and financial independence became a template for women of the twentieth century differing greatly to post 1920’s ideals of fashion and style.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas,

the way we live, what is happening.’ – Coco Chanel

In 1909, the first ever Chanel shop was opened on the ground floor of the Balsan’s apartment in Paris. Little did she know it was to become the greatest fashion empire in the world. This was a perfect place to begin her career. She spent her days admiring the style and mannerisms of Balsan’s French hunting elite. The gentlemen would bring their fashionable wives along which was the perfect way for Coco to network and sell her most elaborate pieces of her first collection to the wealthy elegant women. It was mainly hats that were admired and sold at this store. Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel, a gentlemen she met at Balsan’s saw Coco’s potential and helped her obtain her second shop at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris by 1910. Although there was already a couture shop there, in her lease she was not allowed to sell couture dresses. Her first collections were a reflection of her personal lifestyle following her favourite colours, shades of beige, black and white. Her uncluttered styles were becoming essential pieces for women who were now enjoying active lifestyles. Her fashion was known for its simplicity and as Coco once informed Harpers Bazaar, “simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance”. Pieces such as flannel blazers, straight linen skirts, sailor tops, long jersey sweaters and skirt-jackets were featured in her first collections.

Her later collections previewed within 31 Rue Cambon featured simple day dress and coat ensemble as well as the black evening dresses in lace, the beginning of the famous little black dress.

Coco’s talent was derived from her life experiences. She formed her own signature by observing situations that she grew up in. She recognised that women needed to dress less elaborately and more conveniently in order to live a more active lifestyle. She focused on elegant simplicity. In 1923 she launched a ground breaking above the knee skirt which was the beginning of a new must have fashion statement. Coco Chanel always aimed at the higher echelons of society who had come from any background but had made something of themselves. In order to ensure her garments were reaching the right audience her advertising techniques were crucial and one of her very first techniques was the perfect way to begin. Coco recruited her sister who when was not at work to wear Coco’s latest creations to the most fashionable parts of town. Women began to notice and recognise the Chanel style. From this point the business began to succeed and one can only say it flourished from then on. All of Gabrielle’s redefined products were understated; The little black dress, No 5 perfume, the tweed

suit, the cashmere cardigan, costume jewellery. Each key piece from the 1920’s made Coco Chanel an inspirational woman.

The brand was a first of its kind and has expanded and developed throughout the decades into the most desired luxury brand. Coco Chanel had high aspirations to succeed. With this in mind she was very clever about how she wanted her brand to be portrayed. As previously stated, she positioned her shops in fashionable and wealthy areas and employed elegant women who were walking advertisements and suited the brand. Due to the fact her products are timeless, classic role models have been used in the advertising campaigns. For example the most famous one is Marilyn Monroe, 1959 Chanel No.5 spokeswomen, coinciding perfectly with the nature of the brand and with Coco as a person – strong, classy influential female of her time. This came about at her honeymoon reception in Japan when a journalist asked “Do you where pyjamas at night, please?” and her reply was “A few drops of Chanel No.5”. This powerful statement has become one of the most powerful advertisements. More current however is Nicole Kidman, spokeswomen in early 2000’s – an established actress to advertise the original Chanel Perfume No.5. “Nicole portrays

herself as a woman who has had the world in her hands by the expression on her face. It tells the consumers that Chanel women hold an air of elegance about them that brings all eyes on them.”

Karl Lagerfeld became the chief designer in 1981 changing the old styles to shorter cuts and more eye capturing designs. He retained the Chanel signature by reinventing classic styles with a more creative edge. He took the brand into his own hands to create beautifully structured pieces which he felt passionately about. He personally took the photographs of Nicole Kidman when she was used for advertisements in order to capture a specific moment.

The house of Chanel still stands at the 31 Rue Cambon and is descried to be by Justine Picardie, Coco Chanel: The legend and the life, ‘a shrine to its dead creator, yet also a living, thriving temple of twenty-first-century fashion, the destination for pilgrims who travel here from all over the world.’ The luxurious fashion house lined with cream surfaces and silvered mirrors is a portrayal of her elegant life which is reflected here to be in constant movement but a porcelain faced models galloping on the interlocked double C logo on a carousel this is reflected in the mirrors making

everything seem like an elegant movement. The mirrored decor is an iconic design within the fashion house, Chanel’s private apartment only available to couture clients for fittings is entered into by a secret door followed by a mirrored spiral staircase. It is said to be the strangest sensation, Justine Picardie describes how ‘The mirrors are simultaneously reflecting from all angles: there is no escape from the sight of your body dissected, silvers of face and limbs. So you must watch yourself as you climb the flight to the second floor, to the unmarked mirrored double doors that lead into Mademoiselle Chanel’s private apartment. Open the door, and it is as if she has never left the building; for here is her sanctuary polished and preserved, decades after her death on the 10th January 1971.’ This beautifully describes how the ethos of the brand has remained untouched since her death and how her image and styling will remain iconic within the fashion industry. Her style is one which will be treasured for eternity.

“When my customers come to me, they like to cross the threshold of some magic place; they feel a satisfaction that is perhaps a trace vulgar but that delights them:

they re privileged characters who are incorporated into out legend. For them this is a far greater pleasure then ordering another suit.

Legend it the consecration of fame.’ - Coco Chanel 1935.

ShewaitsBy Camilla Matthews

Shirt - H&M Skirt - Zara

Top - TopshopSkirt - H&M

Shirt - All Saints

Shirt - All Saints

OppositeDress - Tracy Reese

Top - Topshop

Vorticism Vorticism

British Art Movement1914-1920

Vorticism was set up by a group of London artists in 1914. It was a short lived modernist movement in British art and poetry and an offshoot of Cubism. Wyndham Lewis saw Vorticism as an independent alternative to Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism. It is more closely related to Futurism from the way it tried to capture movement in an image. In a Vorticist painting modern life is shown as an array of bold lines and harsh colours drawing the viewers into the centre of the canvas.

Timon of Athens by Wyndham Lewis, 1914

The Creditors by Wyndham Lewis, 1912

The Vorticists held only one exhibition which was at the Dore gallery in London, 1915. Included in the exhibit was work by, Lewis, Helen Saunders, William Roberts and Edward Wadsworth. Lewis was seen as the central figure in the movement due to his contacts and ability as a self-publicist that the quality of his work. In 1956 there was an exhibition at the Tate gallery called Wyndham Lewis and Vorticism which highlighted his prominence in the movement.

Canon by Helen Saunders, 1915

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1920.Women.London