
Coco Chanel
fashion icon
Gabrielle Chanel was just 12 years old when her mother died. Her father abandoned their 5 children, sending Coco and her 2 sisters to live at Aubazine Abbey, a French orphanage. Nuns taught her to be a seamstress, a trade that ultimately brought her fame under the name Coco Chanel ~ although she could not sketch and hated to sew.
Her first store ~ launched in 1910 with funding from her playboy boyfriend Boy Capel ~ featured mostly hats. On a chilly day in Deauville, France, she fashioned a chic jersey dress to battle the cold. The dress grabbed attention and sparked her signature line. Today, Chanel is among the most valuable brands in the world, synonymous with classic style + superior quality.
her theory | less is more
simple & elegant | popularized the little black dress, faux pearls, unfussy knits, collarless cardigans, a classic jacket, pencil-straight skirts, quilted leather bags, feminine fragrances
interlocking Cs | an iconic brand
Chanel No. 5 | worked with perfumer Ernst Beaux to create a woman's perfume of fruity, floral scents...the best-selling perfume in the world
fantastical memoirs | she tried to recast her humble beginnings
Nazi collaborator | biographers argue over just how involved she was
1923 | the Chanel suit
1954 | at age 71, reintroduced the Chanel suit ~ a fortunate move that revived a flagging comeback
2014 | Chanel remains among the premiere luxury brands
from | to
orphan | haute couture design legend
born on
August 19, 1883
born in
Saumur, France
~ in the Auverne region ~
birth name
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel
nickname
Coco
~ biographers offer various versions of how she came by the name Coco: a nickname her father used for her; from two songs—Ko ko ri Ko and Quiqu à vu Coco—that she sang as a chantreuse in a cabaret; or a shortened version of coquette, the French word for kept woman ~
citizen of
France
daughter of
Eugénie Jeanne Devolle
~ a laundrywoman who died when Gabrielle was 12 years old ~
Henri-Albert Chanel
~ a poor French peddlar, he was a street vendor who sold clothing ~
Much has been written about the shame Coco felt about being the illegitimate child of Eugénie and Albert.
sister of
Julia-Berthe and Antoinette
Alphonse, Lucien and Augustin (who died when born)
grew up in
Aubazine, France
~ where the abbey is located ~
educated at | studied with
the abbey | nuns taught her to sew
married to
never married
romantically linked with
Étienne Blasan
~ the wealthy French playboy took Coco as his mistress, moved her to Paris, provided the financial support to open her own hat + dress shop ~
Captain Arthur Edward "Boy" Capel
~ an English polo player who was considered Coco's muse...he provided capital to open two additional boutiques in the French coastal towns of Deauville and Biarritz, but died tragically in a car accident in 1919 ~
Duke of Westminster
~ Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, known for having many wives and love affairs, lavished gifts on mistress Coco ~
Hans Gunther von Dincklage
~ during World War II, her affair with a Nazi officer, 13 years her junior, provoked a scandal that caused her to seek exile in Switzerland ~
Pierre Reverdy
~ the poet edited her famous maxims, and she was his muse. Their short-lived affair became a life-long friendship after Pierre renounced society and retired to the country with his wife ~
friends with
Winston Churchill
lived in
an orphanage
~ from ages 12 to 18, she lived at Aubazine Abbey, built in the 12th century and located in central France ~
31 Rue Cambon
~ her fabulous flat in Paris…an opulent apartment where she worked but didn't sleep and remains the headquarters for Maison Chanel ~
Ritz | Paris
~ where she slept each night, beginning in the early 1930s ~
exiled in Switzerland
advocate for
fashion
influenced by
it's said that the stained glass windows and floors of the abbey influenced the interlocking Cs
succeeded by
Karl Lagerfeld
died on
January 10, 1971
image credits
Wikimedia Commons | public domain
Time / Getty | Wikimedia Commons | public domain
collapse bio bits"All I want from you are wildflowers picked by your own hands."
to Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster | 1930s
"Fashion is made to be unfashionable. I design my clothes always for tomorrow."
LIFE magazine | august 1957
"Fashion is like a revolution—it only enters our lives after it has gone down into the streets."
LIFE magazine | august 1957
"Why did I return? One night at dinner Christian Dior said a woman could never be a great couturier."
LIFE Magazine | august 1957
"I can only work with people who love me and these people do! I tell them, 'Have dignity. This is a profession. Step out and look them in the eye.'"
LIFE Magazine | august 1957
for further reading about Coco Chanel:
curated with care by Shelagh Bolger & Pauline Weger {july 2014}
Gabrielle Chanel en marinière
Coco standing casually in her own simply stylish attire.
unknown | public domain
Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster and Coco Chanel
Coco walks with the English aristocracy, wrapped in chic furs.
unknown
Public domain
the little black dress
coco is known for the lbd ~ the ultimate in simple + chic. initially made in long-sleeves, it evolved over the years and is still today an essential for every woman's wardrobe. in 1926, Vogue heralded it's success.
Art of Fashion - Coco Chanel
A brilliantly animated biography-in-brief of Coco's life + legacy.
Brian Bruemmer