Talking about tweed or Chanel fabric
Tweed or Chanel - was it the chicken or the egg first?
There is no firm philosophical answer about "the chicken or the egg" but we can talk about the mysterious case of "tweed", also known as "Chanel".
Tweed is a fabric originating from Scotland. Usually made of rough wool, it is warm and resistant. Its texture is openwork, with a relatively open weave (sometimes it can be seen perfectly through the fabric because of the spaces between its fibers). It often has a herringbone or herringbone pattern. It is particularly useful because the lint created on the surface of the fabric with wear and friction repels water.
With the technical data, let’s get to the main topic. Why is Tweed called Chanel? Surely if we talk about other more everyday items you will understand how we have arrived at this situation. We bet a thimble that you’ve heard of “chupachups”, “rímmel”, “bimbo”, “aspirin”…
You get the picture, right?
Sometimes it happens that a brand name turns a material or product into an identity or icon. When this happens, for reasons of development and social expansion, the usual name of the product is replaced by the name of the brand.
Chanel launched the classic tweed jacket in the 30’s, introducing this material definitively, until then they had used some other version of wool. The designer and couturier wore her own jacket and skirt set regularly, which helped to make it a signature piece of her own brand.
Even after the founder’s death, in the 1980s Chanel’s creative director Karl Laferfeld continued the brand’s legacy by relaunching and reclaiming the most classic key pieces of the Chanel house: the pearls, the double C logo, the two-tone ensemble, and clearly, the tweed suit.
The relaunch of the classic catapulted the brand back to its position in the fashion world when it was suffering its worst economic moment, as it was only sustained by the sale of its perfumes.
It is curious how a generic material can become part of the identity of a person and a brand over time. In PatternCos you can find different models and classes working this material, thanks to its aesthetics and comfort.
The truth is that tweed fabric has a certain complication when it comes to sewing. Its woolly appearance and thickness can deceive and make it seem that it is in fact quite simple but nothing could be further from the truth. As the threads are so thick and the weft very open this fabric frays very easily and also the weft can be easily deformed making it lose its elegant appearance once the garment is sewn.
On the other hand it has been experimented a lot inserting in the weft small decorations such as sequins or all kinds of decorative beads which can also hinder the task of tailoring.
