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Birth of Coco Chanel
Famous Fashion designer was born August 19th, 1883, in Sammur France. She is famous for her timeless designs, trademark suits, and little black dresses. Chanel was rasied as a orphan and was taught to sew. -
Early Life
Her early years, however, were anything but glamorous. After her mother’s death, Chanel was put in an orphanage by her father who worked as a peddler. She was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew—a skill that would lead to her life’s work. Her nickname came from another occupation entirely. During her brief career as a singer, Chanel performed in clubs in Vichy and Moulins where she was called “Coco.” Some say that the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, -
Fashion Pioneer
Around the age of 20, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan who offered to help her start a millinery business in Paris.pening her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910, Chanel started out selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began making clothes. Her first taste of clothing success came from a dress she fashioned out of an old jersey on a chilly day. In response to the many people who asked about where she got the dress, she offered to make one for them. -
Fashion Pioneer Evolving
Chanel took her thriving business to new heights. She launched her first perfume, Chanel No. 5, which was the first to feature a designer’s name. Perfume “is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion. That heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure,” Chanel once expalined. -
Revolutionary Design
Another 1920s revolutionary design was Chanel’s little black dress. She took a color once associated with mourning and showed just how chic it could be for eveningwear. In addition to fashion, Chanel was a popular figure in the Paris literary and artistic worlds. She designed costumes for the Ballets Russes and for Jean Cocteau’s play Orphée, and counted Cocteau and artist Pablo Picasso among her friends. For a time, Chanel had a relationship with composer Igor Stravinsky. -
Love Life
Ccoo Chanel met the wealthy duke of Westminister, and the two started a decades long relationship. They were enegaged and Coco repklied "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster but there is only one Chanel" -
Fashion Pioneer Evolving
In 1925, she introduced the now legendary Chanel suit with collarless jacket and well-fitted skirt. Her designs were revolutionary for the time—borrowing elements of men’s wear and emphasizing comfort over the constraints of then-popular fashions. She helped women say good-bye to the days of corsets and other confining garments. -
Economic Depression
The International economic outbreak had a negative impact on her company., but the outbreak of World War Two led her to close her buisness. She had to fire her workers and shut down her little shops. -
Economic Deprssion
During the German Occupation of France, Chanel got involved with a German military officer, Hans Gunther von Dicklage, she got special permission to stay in her apartment at the Hotel Ritz. After the war ended, Chanel was intergoatted by her realtionship with Hans but she was evenutally not charged. -
Economic Depression
While not fully charged, Coco suffered in ther court of public opinon. Some still viewed her relationship with a Nazi as betrayl of her country. Chanel then left paris, spemding some time in Switerland. -
Making a Comeback
At the age of 70, Chanel made a return to the fashion world. She first recieved scathing reviews from critics, but her feminine and easy fitting designs soon won over all shoppers around the world. -
Broadway
Chanels fascinating life story became the basis for the broadway muiscal "CoCo"starring Katherine Hepburn as the leading fashion designer. -
Legacy
Coco Chanel died on January 10, 1971 at her hotel ritz. She was never married. At the funreal many crowded around to bid farewell to the fashion icon. -
Legacy
A little over a decade after Chanel died, designer Karl Langerfield took over to contiune the Chanel legacy. Today her namesake company continues to thrive and is believed to generate hundreds of millions in sales each year.
