Coco Chanel
Biography
Born, August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel had a dark childhood. Chanel's mother died, when Gabrielle was young, and her father just left Chanel to fend for herself. Chanel grew up in an orphanage where she learned to sew and got the name Coco. She would sing at some clubs and her audience started referring to her as Coco and the name stuck.
She became involved with Etienne Balsan, who offered to help start her millinery business, but soon left him for one of his wealthier friends, Arthur “Boy” Capel. Both men were important to her becoming of fame.
After getting help to finance her store, in 1910, Coco starting selling hats on Rue Cambon. After a few more stores opened in Deauville and Biarritz, Chanel started selling clothes that she had made. One dress, she made from a jersey, became her welcome into the fashion industry. Many people commented on the dress and asked where to find it. “My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville,” she once told author Paul Morand.
After getting help to finance her store, in 1910, Coco starting selling hats on Rue Cambon. After a few more stores opened in Deauville and Biarritz, Chanel started selling clothes that she had made. One dress, she made from a jersey, became her welcome into the fashion industry. Many people commented on the dress and asked where to find it. “My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville,” she once told author Paul Morand.
Chanel continued her fashion for the 1920's. Her next revolution was selling her own perfume; Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume to feature a designer's name. This act followed through and the impacts of this act are seen today. Department stores carry cosmetics and fragrances because of Coco Chanel and her famous Chanel No. 5. A few years later Chanel came up with her famous suits for women, changing how women dressed for the rest of time. She threw away tight undergarments and corsets. She brought in comfort and new styles unlike anything before. The little black dress was also introduced in the late 1920's and became a "go-to" for women in the next century. Chanel's style was "out there" and original. In the arts and drama, Chanel designed some costumes for ballets and more. Chanel's fashion was always over the top. She was never afraid to express her designs and show her unordinary, unusual, wild ideas.
When the international depression and World War II hit France in the 1930's, Chanel had to shut down her company, firing workers and closing shops. During the war Chanel got involved with Hans Gunther Von Dincklage, a German military officer from the German occupation of France. Chanel got interrogated, after the war, about her relationship with Dincklage. Chanel was not charged, but in the public eye, some saw her as a betrayal of France, so Chanel left Paris. She made a powerful return to the Fashion world, at the age of 70. She let the rude critics and reviews go and soon was back at it, wowing the world again with her sales.
Coco Chanel's life was recreated into Broadway musical, Coco, in 1969. 2 years later, Coco Chanel died on January 10, 1971, at her apartment at Hotel Ritz. She died unmarried, happy as she could be. Her company and legacy has been carried on by Karl Lagerfeld. Coco Chanel is an icon today, and her fashion statements will live on forever, being timeless.