The Life of Coco Chanel

Born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in 1883 has become the biggest name in the fashion industry later in 1920. She was born in the workhouse in the Loire Valley where her mother worked. However Coco later claimed that she was born in1893 making herself ten years younger, she also asserted that her birth place was Auvergne.

Chanel stated that her mother died when she was only six leaving her father with five children which he quickly abandoned to the care of various relatives. Coco was sent to the orphanage of the Catholic monastery of Aubazine, where she was taught the trade of a seamstress. Gabrielle learnt how to sew during school vacations that were spent with relatives in the capital of Moulins, she sewed with more thrive than the nuns could teach her. Chanel left the orphanage when she was eighteen and worked for a local tailor.

It was thought that Coco lied about her life in order to reduce the shame that poverty, illegitimacy and orphan-hood granted the unfortunate in the France during the nineteenth-century. Chanel claimed that she was six when her mother died instead of twelve, as well as stating that her father sailed to America after the death of mother and that she was sent to live with two cold-hearted unmarried aunts. Gabrielle has taken on the name Coco while working as a singer in cafes and concert halls from 1905-1908, it was the nickname given to her by the soldiers who watched her.

Chanel became the mistress of a rich military officer and then a wealthy English Industrialist after she moved to Deauville during the World War1. She opened a millinery shop in Paris in 1910 as the two men introduced her to some women of society and her hats became popular, she then expanded her business as she had two boutiques in both Deauville and Biarritz.

Maison Chanel was recognized by the 1920s (it remains to this day), Coco also became a fashion icon as she was considered having an edgy modern style for her bob haircut and tan. Also during the 1920s Coco Chanel was the first designer to introduce loose women’s clothing using jersey, (normally used for men’s underwear) as she created loosened styles for women, which became popular for the post-war generation of women as they ignored the tight lacing corsets and they became old-fashioned.

Coco Chanel launched Chanel No.5 in 1922, the fragrance that is still very popular today. Pierre Wertheimer became Coco’s business partner two years after the launce (taking 70% of the perfume business) and reportedly her lover. The fragrance company is now controlled by the Wertheimers. Later in 1925 was Chanel’s successful year by launching the cardigan jacket and the little black dress making both items impartial in every Chanel collection until this day.

Chanel nursed the injured soldiers during the World War II, which led to her affair with a Nazi officer. After the war ended the affair drew unwanted publicity attention for Chanel and she escaped to Switzerland. Coco ended this self-imposed exile when she returned to Paris in 1954, expanding her signature styles by experimenting with Christian Dior’s feminine New Look. Coco Chanel’s new collection won the press in Europe and was popular in the United States as she introduced the pea jacket and bell-bottoms for women and her effortlessly stylish boxy cardigan suits, which became popular among the Hollywood stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly.

Chanel also designed costumes Cinema, such as ’La Regle de Jeu’ and theatre, including ‘Antigone’ (1923) and ‘Oedipus Rex’ (1937).

Coco kept working until her death at the age of 88 in 1971, dedicating her life to fashion and spending her last moments the style that become a part of her life.

Katharine Hepburn played the role of Chanel in a Broadway musical based on the life of Coco Chanel in 1969.