Coco Chanel

timeline

born 1883

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.

bio bits

known for

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

three big moments

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

fast facts

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

today

explore

her quotes

all quotes by Coco Chanel (10)

"I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird."
with German journalist | {1930s}

"All I want from you are wildflowers picked by your own hands."
to Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster | 1930s

"If you're sad, add more lipstick and attack."
Inside Chanel | unknown

"Mediocrity doesn't appeal to me."
with British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge | september 1944

"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

"If I can only get out into the fresh air I'll always revive."
LIFE magazine | august 1957

"Nothing is more aging than trying to look younger, it’s the stupidest thing a woman can do, thinking 'if I’m wearing trousers, I’ll look younger than if I’m wearing a skirt'."
Coco Chanel on fame, trousers, creativity and the Moon | 1969

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