Coco Chanel was smart, chic and ahead of her time. She designed clothes that changed the way women looked and how they looked at themselves.
She was born in 1883 in a poorhouse. When she was 12 her mother died of tuberculosis and her father ran off, so she was raised in an orphanage. There she learnt to sew and when she left made a living out of making hats. Then she met and had an affair with a French millionaire playboy who taught her the good life. She then dumped him, after opening her eyes, as she said, and took up with his best friend who was supposed to be the love of her life Arthur Capel. He financed her business and helped her become successful. She almost married one of the richest men in Europe, the Duke of Westminster and when she didn't, her explanation was, "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel."
Coco Chanel's stylish, elegant designs revolutionized fashion. She used elements of male clothing and made it into female clothing, freeing women from the uncomfortable dressed they had to wear in the 19th century. The women she designed for was like herself - independent, successful, with lots of personality, style, and confidence.
She became famous for designing the Chanel suit, which consisted of a knee-length skirt with a matching boxy jacket made of woven wool with black trim and gold buttons. She also invented the little black dress for both evening and day. It was strapless, backless and more than a little risqué, but became very popular and still is today. She also introduced elaborate costume jewellery especially strings of pearls and a bag with golden handles. But what made her a millionaire was the perfume Chanel No. 5, which became the number-one selling perfume in the world and the first perfume to bear a designer's name. Its Art Deco bottle is on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As she said, "this perfume is not just beautiful and fragrant. It contains my blood and sweat and a million broken dreams."
Coco closed her fashion business during World War II as she thought it was inappropriate, and moved into the Ritz hotel in Paris. During the Nazi occupation she had an affair with a German officer who arranged for her to remain in the hotel, for which she was criticised. Later she moved to the French Riviera and then to Switzerland but came back in 1954 when she started her business again, becoming just as successful as she was in the beginning.
Chanel died in the Ritz hotel in 1971 at the age of 87. By that time she was so famous that everybody knew her as Coco. Her fashion house still continues today run by German designer, Karl Lagerfeld, who has turned the company into an even bigger business than it was before.
She was born in 1883 in a poorhouse. When she was 12 her mother died of tuberculosis and her father ran off, so she was raised in an orphanage. There she learnt to sew and when she left made a living out of making hats. Then she met and had an affair with a French millionaire playboy who taught her the good life. She then dumped him, after opening her eyes, as she said, and took up with his best friend who was supposed to be the love of her life Arthur Capel. He financed her business and helped her become successful. She almost married one of the richest men in Europe, the Duke of Westminster and when she didn't, her explanation was, "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel."
Coco Chanel's stylish, elegant designs revolutionized fashion. She used elements of male clothing and made it into female clothing, freeing women from the uncomfortable dressed they had to wear in the 19th century. The women she designed for was like herself - independent, successful, with lots of personality, style, and confidence.
She became famous for designing the Chanel suit, which consisted of a knee-length skirt with a matching boxy jacket made of woven wool with black trim and gold buttons. She also invented the little black dress for both evening and day. It was strapless, backless and more than a little risqué, but became very popular and still is today. She also introduced elaborate costume jewellery especially strings of pearls and a bag with golden handles. But what made her a millionaire was the perfume Chanel No. 5, which became the number-one selling perfume in the world and the first perfume to bear a designer's name. Its Art Deco bottle is on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. As she said, "this perfume is not just beautiful and fragrant. It contains my blood and sweat and a million broken dreams."
Coco closed her fashion business during World War II as she thought it was inappropriate, and moved into the Ritz hotel in Paris. During the Nazi occupation she had an affair with a German officer who arranged for her to remain in the hotel, for which she was criticised. Later she moved to the French Riviera and then to Switzerland but came back in 1954 when she started her business again, becoming just as successful as she was in the beginning.
Chanel died in the Ritz hotel in 1971 at the age of 87. By that time she was so famous that everybody knew her as Coco. Her fashion house still continues today run by German designer, Karl Lagerfeld, who has turned the company into an even bigger business than it was before.
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