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Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel, the founder of the Chanel luxury brand, is known for creating sporty casual designs for women that liberated women from “fixed corseted silhouette.”(Media 12). Apart from designing fashion apparels, Chanel also extended her brand to include multiple fashion accessories, from handbags to shoes (Vouge). Many of her successors in the fashion industry consider Coco Chanel as one of the most influential designer in modern fashion scene (Malenfant 33).

Coco Chanel was born on August 19, 1883 (McDowell 18). Her real name was Gabrielle

Bonheur Chanel. Her mother was not married when Gabrielle was born, and she worked in the charity hospital as a laundrywoman (Media 12). Her father, Albert Chanel, traveled from marketplace

However, she soon abandoned him for wealthier friend who helped her “really” open her fashion business (Drawing 5). With her wealthy friends’ help, she opened her first shop on Rue Cambon in Paris in 1910 and started selling hats (Organization 2). She added attires in her later stores opened in Deauville and Biarritz. Like many successful business people, Chanel’s chance came rather unexpectedly when she turned an old jersey into a dress that was good for chilly weather (Steele 12). According to Chanel, “My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville.” (Moeran 5). In 1925, Chanel introduced the now legendary Chanel suit with collarless jacket and well-fitted skirt. This was rather revolutionary for women because her dress borrowed elements of men’s wear but also emphasized comfort over the constraints of most women’s clothes at the time (Fernie 3). This suit became immensely popular along with another one of her iconic “Little Black Dress.” For this, she is noted for turning the color black, which symbolized mourning into something chic and fashionable and even formal (Media 12). With the popularity of her costumes, Chanel launched her first perfume, Chanel No. 5 and expanded her business to other fashion accessories including handbags and shoes. Despite her controversial personal relationships, Chanel did not lose acclaim in her fashion business (Lagerfeld 5). When she returned at the age of 70,

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Malenfant, Paul Chanel. “Liminaire.” Urgences, no. 33, 1991, doi:10.7202/025656ar.

McDowell, Colin. “Gabrielle.” The Business of Fashion, 27 Nov. 2015, www.businessoffashion.com/articles/education/gabrielle-coco-chanel-1883-1971 Moeran, Brian. “Snapshot: Chanel No. 5.” West Europe Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion, doi:10.2752/bewdf/edch8070.div870008.

“Network-Domains in Combat and Fashion Organizations.” Organization, vol. 17, no. 2,

2009, pp. 283–304., doi:10.1177/1350508409342358.

Steele, Valerie. “Museum Quality: The Rise of the Fashion Exhibition.” Fashion Theory, vol.

12, no. 1, 2008, pp. 7–30., doi:10.2752/175174108x268127.

“The fashion figure.” Basics Fashion Design 05: Fashion Drawing, doi:10.5040/9781474218221.0006. “Who is Coco Chanel? Everything You Need to Know.” Childhood, Life Achievements &

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