CHANEL:
Coco Chanel was one of the most influential fashion designers of her time as well as today. She revolutionized women’s wear and set new standards for contemporary style. She knew what she wanted and what women appreciated. Her classic styles have continued to thrive long after her death and she will always be considered a legendary figure in the fashion world. Chanel set a stable base for many other fashion designers to follow in her footsteps and create names for themselves like she did. She is an important part of fashion history that is notorious worldwide.
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in Saumur, France in 1883. After her parents passed away at a very young age, Gabrielle was raised by her aunts in the province of Auvergne. She was educated at a convent orphanage in Aubazine from 1895-1900. This was when the nickname “Coco” was derived, meaning “little pet.”1
In 1910, Coco moved to rue Cambon in Paris. She opened a shop at number 21, and crowds soon began to flock to it. Only a few years later, she took over numbers 27, 29 and 31 of the same street.2 She then opened a shop in Deauville, where she designed a few accessories inspired by workmen’s and sailor’s clothes. Her easy-fitting and flowing designs could be worn for exercise or sport. “Chanel preferred getting a sun tan exercising in the fresh air and bathing in the sea, to perspiring in ostentatious dresses at balls and casinos in spa towns.”3 During this time she saw herself “rubbing shoulders with the men,” and ready to surpass them.
During the First World War, there was quite a shortage of fabric, so Chanel in turn designed “sophisticated, yet minimalist garments for women that were in the direct opposition to the frilly Belle Epoque style so popular before the war.”4 During the Second World War, Chanel’s business was interrupted by the German occupation of Paris. She closed her shops in 1938 and didn’t reopen until 1954.
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