Coco Chanel: Icon Of Elegance

Coco Chanel is a true legend of the fashion world. Many consider her the most important designer of the twentieth century. Alone she managed to change the world of women’s fashion forever, mainly because she was the first to think that women could also wear men’s clothes.

Moreover, it was Coco Chanel who forever banned fashions full of luster and glitter in favor of simplicity and comfort, criteria still current today. Although this was not her main intent, she is one of the figures who made the greatest contribution to feminism.

Coco Chanel’s life was a subject of controversy. As is often the case with well-known characters, he had to face several painful experiences from childhood. Still, she became a great creator, entrepreneur, leader and even a source of scandals at many times.

Coco Chanel’s early years

Coco Chanel was born in an orphanage in Saumur, France, on August 19, 1883. Her real name was Gabrielle, given to her by the nuns of the institute. She was the daughter of a street vendor and a peasant woman, both with scarce financial resources.

He had four brothers: Antoinette, Alphonse, Lucien and Augustin, who however died at birth. All of them grew up in conditions of poverty.

The mother suffered from asthma and received almost no medical care, which is why she died of bronchitis when Coco was 11 years old. She and her sister ended up in a shelter run by nuns. Here they were subjected to severe discipline, but they also learned to embroider, sew and iron.

At 18, she was sent to another orphanage in Moulins, where she met her aunt Adrienne, just two years her senior. The two became inseparable, until death. For Coco Chanel that sad and miserable past was a source of shame. Many times he invented stories to try to hide it.

From apprentice to teacher

Together with her aunt Adrienne, Coco Chanel began working as a tailor’s aide in Moulins. Right there, the two perfected their sewing knowledge and learned how to make hats. Gabrielle also liked singing. She was hired as a singer and was always asked for the song Qui qu’a vu Coco dans l’Trocadéro? To this we owe the pseudonym that would have made it famous.

He began designing and then selling hats, earning some success. At the time she met Etienne Balsan, of whom she became the lover. It was he who introduced her to the circles of luxury and extravagance. He began to invite her to riding competitions and she decided to commission a tailor for a pair of trousers to be more comfortable.

Coco and Etienne went together to Paris where she met Arthur Capel. With his help and Etienne’s, he opened his first hat shop. In 1910, thanks to Capel, he founded the first Maison Chanel in Paris. So, she went to live with Capel, with whom she had been in love for some time.

An indisputable success

From that moment, success after success came for Coco Chanel. Her fame began to grow and she, who never shied away from challenges, acquired more and more style. Simplicity, comfort and audacity were his trademark.

She became pregnant with her partner, but lost the baby, and with him all possibility of being a mother vanished forever. After 8 years, Arthur Capel left her to marry a noblewoman. After some time, he abandoned his wife and returned with Coco.

Subsequently, she designed a wedding dress for her sister. However, the unhappiness of her marriage led to her suicide. From that moment, the Chanel house no longer designed wedding dresses.

In 1919, Capel, his great love, died in a car accident. Coco Chanel had hard days, but then she went back to work. Just then he introduced the use of rabbit fur in his clothes and it was a real success. Later, she met Igor Stravinsky and the two fell madly in love.

A surprise ending for Coco Chanel

The relationship with Igor Stravinsky lasted a long time, but he was married. Coco Chanel then met Duke Dimitri, a noble exiled from Russia among the murderers of the famous Rasputin. The two began an idyll story and he gave her the pearls of the Romanov dynasty, which he had managed to rescue. Coco launched a fashion inspired by that gift.

Later he inaugurated the fashion of the full skirt, since until then long skirts were used. In 1921 he launched his more than famous Chanel No. 5 perfume, made up of 80 elements, and which became a classic. In addition, he launched the fashion of the “black dress”, previously worn only as a sign of mourning.

Subsequently, she became the official fashion designer of MGM in Hollywood. In 1934 she became engaged to Paul Iribe, but shortly after he died of a heart attack. Then he had an affair with a German officer. She continued to collect hits until she was 80, when, shouting at her maid, he said to her: “See? This is how we die ”. And he died.