5 PRÊT A PORTER LESSONS TO LEARN FROM THE CHANEL LADY


1.      Rock Solid ATTITUDE: Iconoclast Chanel was tough, prudent and a strong-willed character. She never let her rough childhood period affect her quest to success. She instead embraced it to make a better today and tomorrow. It requires a balanced head and a sturdy determination to carve your journey of self-invention. If things didn’t work out the way she planned, she could have easily achieved the CRAZY prefix, but she possessed a staunch faith in her instinct and impeccably walked her way to monumental success. Wavering outlook gives wavering outcomes. It is enormously significant to have belief in one’s goals and path, a sturdy attitude is mandatory.

2.      UNCOMPLICATE to Succeed: The birth of Chanel-the brand took place to uncomplicate clothing and make it easy and breathable. The credit of pulling women out of those strangling hourglass corsets, and giving them a more human like painless fashion sense goes to COCO CHANEL. She not only promoted fashion which was comfortable and practical but also voguish. We often end up complicating the idea in order to give it that sui generis touch. The jewel rule is: SIMPLE IS GOOD. We shouldn’t forget the crux motive behind Steve Jobs designing of Iphone with just one touch button: simplicity. 2+2=4 is elementary and facile when you compare it to 2x2=4 or (square of 2)=4. Do not underestimate the power of SIMPLICITY.

3.      POSITIVE Mademoiselle: Pourquoi Pas: Why not! Whenever life gave her lemons, Coco made lemon popsicles (read: she liked it dapper). Whatever came her way, she made the best use of the situations, and the available resources. She wasn’t the type to believe in ‘let’s wait for the right time to seize the right opportunity to make/launch the right product’, rather she believed in ‘make hats while the sun shines!’This may sound cliché but unearthing the opportunity within the problem is a skill. If you have dug well, the treasure will be revealed to you. Positivity is to peek through the problem and see that little glimpse of the bright prospect, may sound mildly creepy, and work towards it.

4.      NETWORKING: Networking has always been an art even in the Belle Époque, and this legend lady knew how to sew this artful skill in the tweed-silk (read: critical combination) journey of success.  Her eccentric generosity, her appreciation for things and ‘the kind help’ made her connect with the elite class of people. She had her guardian girlfriend, encouraging confidants, and then other nodes in the network to help her move levels up in the game. The trite remark should not be underestimated: your net worth is as good as your network! But one has to be a node in someone’s network too, (too much of software jargons!) promote people, help them reach their goals and you will gradually advance higher.

5.       EXPERIMENTAL: Working on the same outlines, same framework and same schema will only lead to similar results or may land you nearby around (in case you are lucky!). Coco was not a lady of monotony and she definitely knew nor was fashion industry. She was a iconoclast woman designing clothes for the same gender and she wasn’t apprehensive to be her own model.  She designed clothes with different fabrics using cashmere, tweed, silk, jersey, crepe de chine etc and gave us a diverse style belted cardigans, bell-bottoms, twin sets etc. clothing that was easy breezy and relaxed. One need not revolutionize the world, with out of the box concept; you just gotta keep a fresh eye! Being experimental and open to change can create legendary stories.
                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                                 

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