#chanel-ing-a-revolutionary
When one thinks of revolutionaries in the fashion world, one thinks of Coco Chanel.
"I don't do fashion, I am fashion." Yes, she is. Gabrielle Chanel - or Coco Chanel, as she prefers to call herself, is in the epitome of fashion - past, present, and future.
Born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France, Coco Chanel is the founder of her namesake world-renowned fashion house, Chanel. Orphaned from a young age after her mother passed away and her father left her at an orphanage, one can say Coco Chanel is a very much a self-made woman. At the orphanage, she learned the art of sewing, which later became her lifeline.
As an adult, she worked briefly as a singer at a café, where she took on the name 'Coco', and met the man Chanel's famous Boy Bag is named after - Arthur 'Boy' Capel.
In 1910, at the age of 27, she opened her first store and began her fashion journey as a milliner, designing and creating women's hats. With the support of her two lovers, one being Arthur and another being Etienne Balsan, she was able to connect with the high society women, who seemed to enjoy her creations greatly, thus giving her the means to open two more stores in Deauville and Biarritz in the duration of 2 years - 1913 and 1915, respectively. After her career took off in the high society, she ventured past millinery into fragrance; this idea had revealed itself to her when she had mingled with the mistresses of the rich. As a woman of cleanliness, she was unable to look past the strong odor those women had. A well-known scent among designers perfumes - Chanel No. 5 was created in 1920 to solve that problem.
Chanel had hit her big break in the following years; in addition to selling hats, Chanel also sold sportswear and jerseys for men, and as the story goes, Chanel had built her fortune from a single jersey that she had reimagined to compliment women's clothing. Paul Murrand, who had taken it upon himself to write his version of Coco Chanel's life story, had her quoted saying "my fortune is built on that old jersey that I'd put on because it was cold in Deauville."
From the beginning, Chanel built her name by breaking the beauty standards that women were held to; she took what was meant for menswear such as jerseys and turned it into a piece of women's clothing. She was a trendsetter, rejecting the over-exaggerated curves en vogue at the time, and allowed women to breathe by bringing in a looser, sophisticated look into dresses and abandoning the restraints of the corset. She also raised hemlines, revealing (gasp! scandalous!) more leg. In doing so, she revolutionized fashion and changed its course for the next decade.
Source: Vogue
(psst - she was also the first to use live models to showcase her work! Most designers at the time used mannequins).
In 1925, she decided to recreate a typical men's suit to into womenswear, thus pioneering a Chanel icon - the Chanel suit, which can be recognized at a glance.
In the following year, 1926, she took the colour of mourning and turned it into something chic for women with the creation of the iconic Little Black Dress.
Audrey Hepburn in Chanel, Breakfast at Tiffany's
At the height of her career, in 1939, World War II broke out; she was forced to shut down her stores and flee. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she got involved with a German military officer, and had had a secret love affair; it is believed by many that he had helped her survive, but at the end of the war, she was greatly interrogated concerning him, causing her to escape to Switzerland for many years. In 1953, Chanel returned to Paris and resumed her business by reopening her stores. Even with many years of absence, her fame and success had not died down with the war; instead, it was greater than ever. On January 10th, 1971, at the age of 88, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel departed from the world.
This legend had broken down many barriers for women's fashion; she took initiative in designing things, using materials, and creating products that the fashion industry today operates on. Chanel is arguably one of the few fashion houses alongside Louis Vuitton and Hermés that earned Paris the name of "The Fashion Capital". Although a legend had passed, her legacy remains; Chanel Fashion House is one of the most respected of the many fashion houses present day because it continues to preserve the irreplaceable style and taste of the mother of fashion - Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel.
