Designer, Politics, Brand Codes, Cultural Significance and Relationship to Queer Narratives
1. Historical Overview
Founder: Coco Chanel
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) founded Chanel in 1910 in Paris, initially as a millinery house before expanding into couture Her work radically altered women’s fashion by rejecting corsetry and excessive ornamentation in favour of streamlined silhouettes, jersey fabrics, and masculine tailoring elements
Key Historical Milestones
● 1910 – Chanel Modes opens in Paris
● 1913–1915 – Resort wear and jersey sportswear boutiques in Deauville and Biarritz
● 1921 – Launch of Chanel No 5
● 1926 – The “Little Black Dress” popularised in Vogue
● 1954 – Post-war relaunch of the couture house
● 1983–2019 – Creative direction of Karl Lagerfeld
● 2019–present – Creative direction of Virginie Viard (Viard departed in 2024; new leadership evolving)
2. Coco Chanel: Politics and Controversy
Chanel’s political history is complex and controversial
World War II Allegations
● During Nazi occupation of Paris, Chanel stayed at the Ritz and had a documented relationship with German intelligence officer Hans Günther von Dincklage
● Archival records indicate she attempted to use Nazi racial laws to gain control of the Chanel No 5 business from Jewish partners (the Wertheimer family)
● She was questioned but not prosecuted after the war.
Her politics were conservative, nationalist, racist and homophobic, She also expressed antisemitic views,which strongly aligns her views with the Nazi party.
This political history stands in tension with the brand’s contemporary positioning as progressive, global, and culturally forward
3. Core Brand Codes and Signatures
Chanel’s brand codes are some of the most enduring in fashion history.
The Little Black Dress
Black was previously associated with mourning or domestic service Chanel reframed it as modern elegance and independence
Cultural significance:
● Democratised chic
● Elevated minimalism
● Aesthetic austerity as power
Tweed Suit
The collarless jacket and straight skirt were inspired by menswear tailoring.
Significance:
● Borrowed masculine structure for women
● Soft power through tailoring
● Subtle androgyny
Quilted Bag and Chain Strap
● The 2 55 bag (1955) introduced shoulder freedom for women
● The chain referenced military and equestrian hardware
Camellia
White camellias became a recurring motif. Symbolically restrained, elegant, and purity, linking back to the nazi ideology of whiteness as purity
Pearls
Layered costume pearls signified ironic luxury
Imitation elevated to high fashion
The Interlocking CC
Brand as self-mythology
Founder as icon
4. Chanel and Gender
Chanel’s original revolution was gendered.
She:
● Borrowed menswear fabrics
● Popularised trousers for women
● Flattened the silhouette
● Rejected hyper-feminine ornament
However, Chanel’s gender disruption was pragmatic, not radical It aimed at comfort and modernity rather than explicit queer liberation
Unlike brands such as Yves Saint Laurent or Tom Ford, Chanel historically avoided overt sexual provocation
5. Chanel and Queer Codes
Founder Era:
Coco herself had romantic relationships with both men and women, including aristocrat Boy Capel and rumored same-sex relationships within artistic circles. However, she did not publicly position herself within queer identity politics
Her use of masculine tailoring can retrospectively be read as proto-queer, but it was framed socially as modern feminism.
Karl Lagerfeld Era:
Karl Lagerfeld, an openly gay creative director, subtly integrated queer sensibilities:
● Hyper-stylised camp theatrics in runway shows
● Androgynous casting
● Embrace of Parisian intellectual decadence
Yet the brand never foregrounded queer sexuality in campaigns the way Saint Laurent or Calvin Klein did
Contemporary Chanel
Chanel’s contemporary image focuses on:
● Classic femininity
● Heritage
● Cinematic elegance
● Emotional luxury
Queer coding is minimal and aesthetic rather than sexual. It appears in casting diversity and fluid styling but avoids explicit erotic narrative
6. Relationship to Sexual Narratives
Chanel historically rejects overt sexual provocation
Chanel leans into:
● Suggestion over exposure
● Romance over eroticism
● Mystique over explicit desire
Sexuality is sublimated into elegance
7. Cultural Significance
Chanel’s impact is monumental:
● Redefined modern femininity
● Elevated simplicity
● Established luxury branding archetypes
● Created one of the most powerful heritage mythologies in fashion
It represents institutional luxury rather than countercultural rebellion
8. Critical Evaluation
Chanel occupies a paradoxical position in relation to queer and sexual narratives.
On one hand:
● It pioneered masculine-feminine hybridity in womenswear.
● It normalised women wearing trousers and tailoring
On the other hand:
● The brand does not engage in queer erotic politics
● Its aesthetic is rooted in bourgeois restraint
● Its founder’s conservative politics conflict with contemporary progressive fashion discourse.
Chanel’s modern image is polished, aspirational, and culturally conservative compared to sexually transgressive houses.
It represents power through control rather than liberation through exposure
Chanel Through Queer Theory
2. Chanel and Gender Performativity
Judith Butler argues that gender is not innate but performed through repeated stylised acts (Butler, 1990). Chanel’s early work destabilised rigid femininity through:
● Menswear tailoring for women
● Jersey fabric previously used in men’s undergarments
● Flattened silhouettes
● Rejection of corsetry
This did not explicitly articulate queer identity. However, it disrupted compulsory hyper-femininity
From a Butlerian perspective, Chanel re-scripted femininity by borrowing masculine codes and repeating them until they became naturalised within women’s fashion.
Yet this disruption remained socially acceptable because it aligned with modernity and practicality rather than sexual deviance
Chanel’s gender ambiguity was aesthetic, not erotic
3. Homosociality and Power
Sedgwick’s work on homosocial desire helps frame Chanel’s network
Coco Chanel’s rise was supported by wealthy aristocratic men such as Boy Capel, yet her independence from marriage destabilised heteronormative domestic expectations
Her positioning as a woman operating in elite male spaces reflects a homosocial negotiation of power rather than an openly queer sexual politics.
Chanel’s design language incorporated masculine authority without fully challenging heterosexual normativity.
4. Foucault, Discipline and Respectability
Foucault describes sexuality as a system regulated by discourse and institutions (Foucault, 1978)
Chanel’s aesthetic discipline
Minimalism
Restraint
Control
Neutral palettes
can be read as aligning with bourgeois respectability
Unlike houses such as Saint Laurent or Tom Ford, Chanel does not eroticise transgression
Instead, it disciplines the body into elegance
In Foucauldian terms, Chanel does not explode sexual discourse but contains it
5. Chanel and Camp
Susan Sontag defined camp as stylised exaggeration and theatricality (Sontag, 1964).
Under Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel occasionally flirted with camp spectacle:
● Supermarket runway shows
● Rocket launch sets
● Hyper-staged fantasy environments
However, this was aesthetic camp rather than sexual camp. It lacked the overt queer eroticism found in Saint Laurent’s leather or Tom Ford’s hyper-sexual tailoring
Chanel’s camp is theatrical luxury, not queer carnality.
6. The Closet and Ambiguity
Sedgwick’s epistemology of the closet suggests sexuality operates through silence and suggestion
Chanel as a brand performs ambiguity:
● It rarely foregrounds sexual narrative
● It avoids overt homoerotic imagery
● It maintains emotional opacity
This ambiguity allows queer consumers to read fluidity into tailoring, pearls, and androgynous styling without the brand explicitly claiming queer identity
Chanel’s queerness is subtextual
7. Chanel vs Explicit Queer Sexual
Narrative
Compare to:
● Calvin Klein – Explicit homoerotic minimalism
● Armani – Soft homoerotic male sensuality
● Thom Browne – Queer-coded uniform fetish
Chanel historically avoids:
● Leather fetish
● Carnal exposure
● Erotic gaze
Its rebellion is intellectual and sartorial, not sexual
8. Politics and the Limits of Queer
Reading
Chanel’s documented link to the Nazi regime complicates any progressive queer reading, as this was in contrast to her personal beliefs.
Queer theory often aligns with anti-authoritarian critique Chanel’s conservative and nationalist politics resist that framework
The brand’s current diversity initiatives exist within corporate luxury capitalism rather than queer radicalism
Thus Chanel is not a queer brand in activist terms. It is a modernist brand that unintentionally created space for gender fluid styling
The house of chanel is still greatly influenced by the ideologies of Coco
9. Critical Conclusion
Chanel’s relationship to queer theory can be summarised as follows:
● It destabilised gender norms through tailoring and silhouette
● It avoided explicit queer sexual discourse
● It prioritised discipline over erotic liberation
● It operates through ambiguity rather than declaration
Karl Lagerfeld
A Deep Dive: Career, Visual Codes, Intellectual Theatre & Queer Aesthetic Politics
Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019) was one of the most prolific and intellectually dominant designers in modern fashion history. As Creative Director of Chanel from 1983 to 2019, he transformed a dormant heritage house into a global spectacle machine while maintaining its bourgeois discipline
Below is a structured deep dive into:
Education & Early Formation
Brand History & Roles
Visual Codes
Recurring Themes
Inspirations
Relationship to Queer Culture
Campaign Language & Image Strategy
Critical Positioning
1. Education & Early Formation
Lagerfeld moved from Hamburg to Paris as a teenager and won the International Wool Secretariat competition in 1954 (alongside Yves Saint Laurent)
He trained under Pierre Balmain before moving to Jean Patou.
From early on, his interests extended beyond fashion:
● Literature
● 18th-century history
● Art theory
● Photography
● Philosophy
His aesthetic formation was intellectual before erotic
Unlike Vaccarello’s architectural sensuality, Lagerfeld’s work was rooted in historical citation and semiotic control
2. Career Timeline
Chloé (1960s–1980s)
Soft romanticism
Fluid femininity.
Bohemian lightness.
Fendi (1965–2019)
Revolutionised fur Transformed material perception.
Graphic logo innovation
Chanel (1983–2019)
When Lagerfeld arrived, Chanel was perceived as conservative and ageing.
He:
● Reinterpreted tweed
● Shortened hemlines
● Amplified branding
● Industrialised spectacle
● Turned the runway into architectural theatre
Supermarket sets
Rocket launches Icebergs.
Data centres
He merged bourgeois codes with pop-cultural irony.
3. Visual Codes
1 Black & White Dialectic
High-contrast
Graphic clarity.
Modernist purity
2 Tweed Reimagined
Softened, shortened, sexed up.
Classic made contemporary.
3 Chains & Logos
Visible branding
Luxury as performance.
4 Gloves, High Collars, Sunglasses
His own uniform became a meta-brand extension
5 Monumental Set Design
Runway as Gesamtkunstwerk (total artwork).
4. Recurring Themes
Control Through Excess
Even in maximal sets, garments retained discipline.
Irony & Detachment
Lagerfeld treated fashion as commentary
Intellectual Camp
His shows flirted with theatrical exaggeration but without sexual rawness
Modernity Through Heritage
He did not dismantle Chanel
He fortified it
5. Artistic & Cultural Inspirations
18th-century aristocratic dress
Modernist architecture
Pop art
Publishing culture
Photography (he shot many Chanel campaigns himself)
Unlike Vaccarello’s nightlife inspiration, Lagerfeld referenced cultural institutions
6. Relationship to Queer Culture
Karl Lagerfeld was openly gay but notably private about his sexuality
His relationship to queerness was:
Intellectualised
Aestheticised
Rarely eroticised.
He admired figures like:
● Andy Warhol
● David Bowie
Yet Chanel under Lagerfeld avoided explicit homoerotic imagery.
Queer sensibility appeared through:
● Camp theatricality
● Androgynous models
● Stylised exaggeration
But it was never sexually confrontational.
His queerness functioned as cultural literacy, not erotic rebellion
7. Campaign Strategy
Chanel campaigns under Lagerfeld:
● Clean compositions
● Architectural framing
● Celebrity ambassadors
● Parisian nostalgia
● Editorial polish
The gaze is controlled
Never voyeuristic.
Never raw
Sexuality is sublimated into elegance
8. Critical Positioning
Lagerfeld can be understood as:
An institutional architect.
A historian of style
A master of branding semiotics
A queer intellectual rather than queer provocateur
Where Vaccarello eroticises shadow, Lagerfeld aestheticised control
He reinforced bourgeois luxury while flirting with camp spectacle.
His Chanel was powerful, not dangerous
Matthieu Blazy
A Deep Dive: Material Intelligence, Sensory Minimalism & Emerging Queer Subtlety
Matthieu Blazy (b 1984, Paris) represents a new generation of quiet intellectual designers
Appointed Creative Director of Chanel beginning in 2025, Blazy previously revitalised Bottega Veneta through material innovation and tactile storytelling.
His work suggests a potential shift from theatrical spectacle to sensory intimacy at Chanel
1. Education & Early Formation
Blazy studied at La Cambre (ENSAV), Brussels the same institution as Anthony Vaccarello.
He worked under:
● Raf Simons
● Phoebe Philo
● Martin Margiela (Maison Margiela)
These mentors shaped:
● Conceptual restraint
● Structural precision
● Anti-logo subtlety
● Emotional minimalism
2. Career Timeline
Maison Margiela (Design Team)
Conceptual deconstruction
Material illusion
Céline (under Phoebe Philo)
Intellectual femininity
Quiet luxury
Bottega Veneta (Creative Director, 2021–2024)
Reintroduced tactility
Leather as narrative
Subtle sensuality.
Human intimacy
Chanel (2025–present)
Too early for full evaluation.
However, early signals suggest:
Material storytelling over spectacle
3. Visual Codes
1 Material Illusion
Leather made to look like denim
Textile trompe-l’oeil
2. Tactile Surfaces
Clothes that invite touch
3 Fluid Structure
Tailoring that feels lived-in.
4. Reduced Logos
Craft over branding
5 Emotional Neutrality
Warm minimalism.
4. Recurring Themes
Intimacy over dominance
Material honesty
Subtle sensuality.
Human scale luxury
Unlike Lagerfeld’s monumental theatre, Blazy focuses on closeness.
5. Artistic & Cultural Inspirations
Modernist architecture
Craft traditions
Minimalist art
Post-Philo intellectual femininity
European conceptual fashion lineage
His aesthetic aligns more with:
● Sensory realism
● Psychological depth
● Anti-spectacle refinement
6. Relationship to Queer Culture
Blazy does not foreground overt sexual coding.
However, his work:
● Softens masculinity
● De-emphasises rigid gender structure
● Allows fluid tailoring
● Favors ambiguity
His queerness is atmospheric rather than explicit
If Vaccarello is: Queer spectacle
Blazy is: Queer subtlety.
His potential at Chanel may introduce:
Gender fluid casting.
Sensory intimacy.
Less hierarchy
More tactility
But within Chanel’s institutional constraints
7. Campaign Strategy (Predicted Direction)
Expect:
● Close-up photography
● Natural light
● Emotional proximity
● Less architectural dominance
● More human narrative
The gaze may shift from monument to intimacy.
8. Critical Positioning
Blazy can be understood as:
A material philosopher. A tactility strategist
A quiet radical A modernist humanist.
Where Lagerfeld intellectualised luxury, Blazy sensualises it quietly
Where Vaccarello eroticises through dominance, Blazy suggests intimacy through craft
He represents a potential softening of Chanel’s institutional austerity but not a descent into overt sexual politics
Saint Laurent: A Complete Deep Dive
Designer, Politics, Brand Codes, Cultural Significance and Relationship to Queer Narratives
1. Historical Overview
Founder: Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent (1936–2008) founded the house in 1961 with business partner Pierre Bergé Prior to this, Saint Laurent had served as creative director at Christian Dior following Dior’s death in 1957.
From its inception, Saint Laurent positioned itself as both culturally modern and socially transgressive. Unlike Chanel’s restrained modernism, Saint Laurent’s work actively destabilised gender and sexual codes
Key Historical Milestones
1961 – House of Yves Saint Laurent founded
1966 – Introduction of Le Smoking tuxedo for women
1966 – Launch of Rive Gauche ready-to-wear boutique
2012–2016 – Creative direction of Hedi Slimane (brand renamed Saint Laurent)
2016–present – Creative direction of Anthony Vaccarello
2. Yves Saint Laurent: Politics, Sexuality and Cultural Context
Yves Saint Laurent was openly gay during a period when homosexuality remained criminalised or heavily stigmatised across Europe
His personal life was intertwined with:
● Parisian nightlife
● Artistic avant-garde circles
● Sexual experimentation
● Addiction and psychological fragility
Unlike Coco Chanel’s conservative nationalism, Saint Laurent’s politics were culturally progressive and artistically aligned with liberation movements of the 1960s–70s.
However, he was not an activist designer in the contemporary sense His rebellion operated through aesthetics rather than overt political statements
3. Core Brand Codes and Signatures
Le Smoking (1966)
A tuxedo designed for women
Significance:
● Transferred male power dressing to female bodies
● Recontextualised the phallus-coded suit into feminine eroticism
● Created androgynous glamour
Unlike Chanel’s pragmatic tailoring, Le Smoking was explicitly erotic
It invited:
● Women to occupy male-coded spaces
● Viewers to experience gender ambiguity
● A reorientation of the gaze
Sheer Blouse
Saint Laurent introduced transparent chiffon blouses worn without bras.
Cultural significance:
● Visibility of the female body within high fashion
● Erotic autonomy
● Shock within bourgeois Paris
Safari Jacket
Borrowed colonial masculine codes and eroticised them on female models.
Critically:
This aesthetic can be read as both empowering and problematic (exoticism + colonial gaze).
Black, Velvet, Leather
Under later directors, these became central codes:
● Noir sensuality
● Nightlife decadence
● Parisian underground
4. Saint Laurent and Gender
Saint Laurent’s gender revolution differs from Chanel in intensity
Chanel:
● Reformed women’s dress for mobility
Saint Laurent:
● Reconfigured sexual power through dress
Le Smoking did not simply masculinise women
It sexualised masculinity on women
That distinction is crucial.
Saint Laurent understood: Masculinity itself could be eroticised, stylised, and destabilised.
5. Saint Laurent and Queer Codes
Founder Era
Saint Laurent’s own sexuality informed the house ethos.
Queer elements include:
● Androgyny
● Dandyism
● Gender ambiguity
● Intimate male muse culture
● Artistic bohemian circles
However, queerness was coded rather than marketed
Tom Ford Era (2000–2004)
Ford amplified overt sexual imagery:
● Glossy nudity
● Explicit advertising
● Provocative campaigns
However, Ford’s eroticism leaned heavily into hetero-coded glamour. It commodified sex rather than queering it structurally
Hedi Slimane Era (2012–2016)
Slimane radically shifted the brand
He:
● Cast extremely thin, androgynous boys
● Referenced underground music scenes
● Removed “Yves” from the logo (modernist gesture)
● Centered youth culture
His Saint Laurent aesthetic was deeply queer-coded.
It referenced:
● Berlin clubs
● LA indie rock
● Non-binary silhouettes
● Homosocial intimacy
But again rarely explicit in labeling
Anthony Vaccarello Era (2016–Present)
Vaccarello intensifies erotic minimalism.
Campaigns include:
● Latex
● Leather harnesses
● High slits
● Wet hair
● Explicit posing
His work does not declare queer identity but embraces:
● Sexual ambiguity
● Fluid dominance
● Power play aesthetics
● Nighttime decadence
The brand frequently collaborates with queer cultural figures in film and art
Saint Laurent Productions (film arm) reinforces cinematic erotic storytelling.
6. Relationship to Sexual Narratives
Saint Laurent does not sublimate sexuality
It foregrounds it.
Key distinctions:
Chanel:
Suggestion, elegance, mystique
Saint Laurent: Exposure, desire, tension
Sexuality functions as:
● A marketing tool
● A cultural signifier
● A brand differentiator
● A form of symbolic rebellion
7. Cultural Significance
Saint Laurent’s impact includes:
● Normalising women in tuxedos
● Integrating queer-coded aesthetics into luxury
● Commercialising subculture
● Transforming sexual provocation into high fashion
It represents:
Institutionalised transgression
It takes counterculture and refines it into luxury capital
8. Critical Evaluation
Saint Laurent occupies a complex queer position
On one hand:
● Founded by a gay man
● Embedded with androgyny
● Eroticised gender instability
● Embraced nightlife and subculture
On the other hand:
● Commercialises sexuality
● Rarely engages in overt political activism
● Packages rebellion into high-cost luxury
Its queerness is aesthetic, atmospheric, and cultural but not radically activist.
Saint Laurent Through Queer Theory
1. Theoretical Framework
Judith Butler – Gender performativity
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick – The closet & homosocial desire
Michel Foucault – Sexuality as power discourse
Leo Bersani – The destabilising potential of queer sexuality
2. Gender Performativity (Butler)
Butler argues gender is repeated performance (Butler, 1990)
Saint Laurent destabilised gender by:
● Repeating masculine tailoring on female bodies
● Blurring male and female silhouettes
● Presenting androgyny as glamour
Unlike Chanel, Saint Laurent foregrounded erotic charge within that performance
Gender becomes theatrical
3. Sedgwick & The Closet
Sedgwick describes queerness as structured through silence and coded visibility.
Saint Laurent’s campaigns:
● Often ambiguous
● Avoid explicit identity labels
● Allow homoerotic readings
This is strategic.
It maximises cultural reach while maintaining queer resonance
4. Foucault & Sexuality as Power
Foucault argues sexuality is regulated by discourse (Foucault, 1978)
Saint Laurent disrupts that regulation by:
● Making sexuality visible
● Stylising taboo aesthetics
● Introducing leather, fetish elements, and exposed skin into luxury
But it does so within capitalist containment
The transgression is curated
5. Bersani & Queer Disruption
Bersani proposes queer sexuality destabilises social order.
Saint Laurent aestheticises destabilisation but neutralises its threat through glamour
It sells danger safely
9. Critical Conclusion
Saint Laurent’s relationship to queer theory can be summarised as:
● Founded within queer subjectivity
● Repeatedly destabilised gender norms
● Commercialised erotic transgression
● Positioned sexuality as luxury capital
● Operates through stylised ambiguity rather than explicit activism
If Chanel is:
Queerness as structure.
Saint Laurent is:
Queerness as spectacle.
It represents liberation through exposure rather than liberation through discipline
Chanel vs Saint Laurent
A Queer Theory and Sexual Narrative Comparison
This comparison examines both houses through gender politics, queer coding, sexual imagery, and brand ideology. While both are foundational Parisian maisons, they occupy radically different positions in relation to eroticism, queerness, and transgression.
1. Foundational Ideology
Chanel: Modernist Discipline
Founded by Coco Chanel, the house emerged from early 20th century modernism Chanel’s project was liberation through restraint:
● Removal of corsets
● Masculine tailoring for women
● Jersey fabric in couture
● The Little Black Dress
Her revolution was structural rather than sexual She destabilised gender presentation but maintained bourgeois respectability
Chanel reframed femininity as controlled, intellectual, and self-possessed
Saint Laurent: Erotic Liberation
Founded by Yves Saint Laurent in 1961, Saint Laurent’s vision was rooted in provocation and erotic charge
Key moments include:
● Le Smoking tuxedo for women
● Sheer blouses exposing breasts
● 1971 “Libération” collection
● 1971 nude campaign portrait of Saint Laurent
Saint Laurent explicitly merged sexuality, nightlife, and subculture with luxury fashion
His revolution was erotic and political.
2. Gender Through Butler
Using Judith Butler’s theory of performativity: Chanel
● Re-scripted femininity through masculine codes
● Repeated tailoring until it became normalised
● Gender destabilisation without erotic transgression
Saint Laurent
● Amplified the instability of gender
● Le Smoking sexualised the female body through masculine structure
● Made androgyny seductive and visible
Chanel neutralised gender difference
Saint Laurent eroticised it
3. Sexual Discourse Through Foucault
Using Michel Foucault:
Chanel
● Sexuality is contained
● The body is disciplined
● Desire is sublimated into elegance
Saint Laurent
● Sexuality is displayed
● The body is exposed
● Desire becomes spectacle
Under Anthony Vaccarello, Saint Laurent intensified nocturnal queer eroticism:
● Latex
● Leather
● Hyper-short silhouettes
● Explicit campaign imagery
Chanel avoids this exposure
4. Queer Coding
Chanel
Queer coding appears through:
● Androgynous tailoring
● Pearls worn ironically
● Subtle ambiguity
● Camp theatricality under Karl Lagerfeld
However, it rarely centres queer sexuality explicitly
Chanel performs queerness through aesthetic suggestion.
Saint Laurent
Queer coding is explicit:
● Leather culture references
● Nightclub aesthetics
● Homoerotic male casting
● Gender-fluid silhouettes
● Parisian decadence
Saint Laurent aligns more directly with queer nightlife and sexual subculture.
5. Campaign Imagery
Chanel
Campaigns typically feature:
● Romantic cinematography
● Controlled sensuality
● Emotional mystique
● Narrative storytelling
Even when sensual, sexuality remains implied.
Saint Laurent
Campaigns often include:
● Explicit erotic tension
● BDSM references
● Nude or semi-nude male bodies
● Club lighting and voyeuristic framing
Saint Laurent foregrounds the gaze
Chanel controls it
6. Relationship to Queer Culture
Chanel
● Historically not aligned with queer activism
● Founder’s politics conservative and controversial
● Queerness exists in design structure rather than ideology
Chanel is institutionally powerful and culturally conservative
Campaign Tone Romantic restraint Nocturnal provocation
Power Aesthetic Bourgeois control Dangerous glamour
8. Critical Conclusion
Chanel represents discipline, elegance, and sublimated power Its gender disruption is foundational but not sexually radical.
Saint Laurent represents erotic spectacle, queer nightlife, and destabilised masculinity
If Chanel is about liberation through control, Saint Laurent is liberation through desire
For your own brand exploration, this distinction is crucial:
Chanel offers structural modernism
Saint Laurent offers cinematic queer tension
Anthony Vaccarello
A Deep Dive: Career, Visual Codes, Inspirations & Queer Aesthetic Politics
Anthony Vaccarello (b 1982, Brussels) is one of the defining architects of contemporary luxury erotic minimalism. As Creative Director of Saint Laurent since 2016, he has refined and intensified the house’s legacy of sexual provocation, nocturnal glamour, and queer-coded power
Education & Early Formation
Vaccarello graduated from La Cambre (ENSAV) in Brussels in 2006 His graduate collection won the Hyères Festival Grand Prix, immediately positioning him within avant-garde European fashion circles.
From the outset, his aesthetic vocabulary was:
● Architectural precision
● Skin exposure
● Asymmetry
● High-contrast monochrome
His early work already showed a fascination with the tension between minimalism and erotic charge
Career Timeline
Early Label (2008–2014)
Vaccarello launched his own brand in 2008. The collections were defined by:
● Micro hemlines
● Strategic cut-outs
● Black leather
● Metallic hardware
He quickly became known for hyper-sexual, sculptural womenswear.
Fendi (Consultant, 2011–2014)
Vaccarello worked on fur and ready-to-wear under Karl Lagerfeld This period sharpened his understanding of luxury materiality and Italian craftsmanship
Versus Versace (Creative Director, 2014–2016)
Appointed by Donatella Versace, Vaccarello brought:
● High-slit dresses
● Bondage hardware
● Aggressive sexuality
● Sharp tailoring
Versus allowed him to explore overt, club-coded glamour a precursor to his Saint Laurent era
Saint Laurent (Creative Director, 2016–Present)
After Hedi Slimane, Vaccarello inherited a house already steeped in rock-and-roll eroticism
He shifted the focus from indie grunge to sculptural, nocturnal precision:
● Strong shoulders
● Razor tailoring
● Latex and leather
● Ultra-short silhouettes
● Monochrome palettes
He re-centered the house on Parisian night, queer tension, and cinematic darkness.
Visual Codes
Vaccarello’s core codes include:
1. Black as Authority
Black dominates Not romantic black industrial black It signals power, control, sexuality.
2. Sharp Shoulders
Echoing 1980s power dressing and Saint Laurent archives The silhouette creates dominance through structure
3. Legs & Exposure
Micro-minis and high slits
Sexuality is architectural, not soft
4. Latex & Leather
Subtle BDSM references
Material as erotic language
5. Monochrome Discipline
Red, black, white Rarely busy prints
Desire through reduction.
Recurring Themes
Nocturnal Paris
Campaigns are often shot at night.
Urban alienation
Voyeuristic framing
Erotic Control
Bodies are not chaotic
They are posed, restrained, sculpted
Gender Ambiguity
Menswear increasingly features:
● Sheer shirts
● Bare torsos under tailoring
● Soft fabrics on masculine frames
This aligns with queer destabilisation of masculinity
Artistic & Cultural Inspirations
Vaccarello often cites:
● Helmut Newton – erotic power photography
● Robert Mapplethorpe – homoerotic sculptural imagery
● 1970s–80s Paris nightlife
● The original work of Yves Saint Laurent
His aesthetic also echoes the cinematic darkness of directors like David Lynch (though not officially branded as such).
Relationship to Queer Culture
Unlike Chanel’s ambiguity, Vaccarello’s Saint Laurent embraces queer codes:
● Leather subculture
● Male sensuality
● Gender-fluid casting
● Voyeuristic male gaze
His menswear especially incorporates queer erotic tension through:
● Sheer blouses
● Open chests
● Glossy leather trousers
Campaign Strategy
Saint Laurent campaigns under Vaccarello often feature:
● Stark black-and-white photography
● Nighttime urban settings
● Direct gaze
● Hyper-defined cheekbones
● Intimate framing
The camera acts as a voyeur Desire is cinematic This aligns strongly with my interest in cinematic queer storytelling.
Critical Positioning
Vaccarello can be understood as:
● A minimalist eroticist
● A sculptor of power
● A curator of Parisian decadence
He avoids excessive ornament, and maximalism He focuses on tension, restraint, and exposure.
Where Tom Ford eroticises through gloss and fantasy, Vaccarello eroticises through shadow and silence.
Anthony Vaccarello Menswear Through Queer Theory
Creative Director of Saint Laurent, Vaccarello has reshaped menswear into a site of erotic tension rather than pure tailoring discipline
Butler: Masculinity as Performance
Judith Butler argues gender is performed through repeated acts
Vaccarello destabilises traditional masculinity by:
● Sheer blouses on male bodies
● Bare torsos beneath tailoring
● Leather trousers replacing wool suiting
● Soft silk shirts with hyper-masculine shoulders
Masculinity becomes stylised theatre.He doesn’t feminise men; he eroticises masculinity itself The male body is not neutral, it is presented as an object of desire
Sedgwick: Homosocial Desire
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick distinguishes between homosocial bonding and homosexual desire.
Vaccarello collapses that boundary
Saint Laurent menswear campaigns often feature:
● Intimate male proximity
● Direct gaze
● Wet skin, gloss, shadow
● Private club atmospheres
The gaze is ambiguous Is it male-to-male? Female-to-male? Viewer-to-subject? That ambiguity is queer strategy.
Foucault: Sexuality as Discourse
Michel Foucault suggests sexuality is regulated through discourse and visibility
Vaccarello resists polite heteronormative discourse by making male erotic display central
He uses:
● Latex
● Harness-like tailoring
● High-waisted leather
● Glossy skin
But the sexuality is not chaotic It is controlled, composed, sculpted It is power-sex
Visual Codes in Vaccarello Menswear
● Black dominance
● Severe shoulders
● Gloss and shadow
● Paris at night
● Youthful, angular faces
● Razor silhouettes
● Controlled erotic exposure
Queerness is not camp It is controlled desire
Queer Theorists
Judith Butler (b. 1956)
Judith Butler is a philosopher and gender theorist best known for introducing the concept of gender performativity in Gender Trouble (1990) Butler argues that gender is not innate but produced through repeated acts, gestures, and social norms Their work reframed identity as constructed through performance and discourse, profoundly shaping queer theory, feminist thought, and cultural analysis.
Key relevance: Identity as performance; subversion of gender norms
Michel Foucault (1926–1984)
Michel Foucault was a French philosopher who examined how power operates through discourse In The History of Sexuality (1976), he argued that sexuality is not simply repressed but produced through medical, legal, and social systems He reframed sexual identity as historically constructed rather than natural.
Key relevance: Power/knowledge; sexuality as social construct
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950–2009)
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick was a foundational figure in queer theory. In Epistemology of the Closet (1990), she argued that modern Western culture is structured around the homo/heterosexual binary and the metaphor of “the closet ” Her work examines how secrecy, visibility, and desire shape identity and cultural narratives.
Key relevance: The closet; queer reading; visibility and secrecy
Susan Sontag (1933–2004)
Susan Sontag was a cultural critic whose essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” (1964), published in Against Interpretation, defined camp as a sensibility rooted in artifice, exaggeration, and theatricality. Her writing legitimized camp as a serious aesthetic category, deeply influencing queer cultural and fashion analysis
Many luxury heritage brands remain rooted in traditional narratives and rarely engage with contemporary queer perspectives, particularly those exploring masculinity, intimacy, and subtle eroticism. This project responds to that gap by introducing queer eroticism into the visual language of Chanel, using the brand’s iconic house codes: tweed, pearls, and camellias, alongside historic queer symbols
Set within the discreet atmosphere of a modern gay private club, the shoot draws inspiration from the aesthetic philosophy of Oscar Wilde and the tradition of queer dandyism. By juxtaposing Chanel’s heritage codes with queer cultural references, the shoot reimagines the brand within a contemporary, sexually charged space while maintaining the sophistication expected of a luxury house.
