“Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.” Coco Chanel

What does it mean when someone says a dress looks perfect? Can you put your finger on why your best friend looked so wonderful in her wedding dress? From a designer’s point of view, I can tell you exactly what it means: it means the proportions of the dress are exactly right for the person wearing it.

Let’s look at Coco Chanel’s famous quote, and the title of this post:

 “Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.”

When you think of the name Coco Chanel, you’re probably picturing a brand, but Coco Chanel, or Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, was an exquisite, beautiful, and influential French fashion designer.

Her approach to fashion was strikingly similar to an architect’s approach to buildings. Her designs were modernist, practical, and powerfully simple; all the ingredients for cutting-edge, stunning buildings.

The parallels she drew between the two disciplines highlights just how methodical and technical the art of dressmaking is, and just how important it is to get the measurements and cut right for the individual wearer.

Another of my favourite fashion designers is Gianfranco Ferré, who was previously trained in architecture. Like Coco Chanel, his stunning designs reflect the precision of an architect, where the proportions are in perfect harmony. His work is extremely dynamic and cutting-edge, as you can see here:

So, just as proportion creates the perfect piece of architecture, it also creates the perfect dress.  But it’s not just about the dress itself, it’s about the shape and style of the woman wearing it. Just as a building needs to fit its environment, so should a dress fit its wearer.

As dress designers we have to take into account the bride’s features and body proportions, just as architects need to make sure a building’s colours and shapes are balanced. And when you get all these aspects right, the end product is, as the expression goes, ‘pleasing to the eye’.

Architecture is a great source of inspiration for me, and when you look at the work of top fashion designers such as Coco Chanel and Gianfranco Ferré, you can see how similar it is to fashion design. There’s no room for error, no estimates…it’s all about precision, and it’s the precision that creates the balance.

Next time you are in the city, look up. Notice the buildings that surround you, their shapes and their dimensions. Ask yourself, ‘what makes this building beautiful?’ I bet the answer you come up with will be the answer I gave you at the beginning of this post: the proportions make it beautiful. And next time you hear someone say that a dress looks perfect, you’ll know why.