Coco Chanel- A Fashion Must of the 20th Century

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” - Coco Chanel

As I wrote recently about women’s fashion, my interest turned to one particular woman who influenced fashion in a major way in the 20th century, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. This woman was famous for her contemporary relaxed style of “casual elegance” in design, but also for her pioneering fashion firsts, like pea jackets and bellbottom pants. She led a very interesting life, not only designing fashionable clothes, but also helping serve her country as a nurse in WWI. I’d like to give you a little more of a background on this influential woman of the 20th century.

Though Chanel made great effort to change her real origins, it’s determined that she was born in a poorhouse in 1883 to parents, Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle in the small city of Saumur, France. She was one of five children and unfortunately when she was twelve her mother died of tuberculosis. As a result of the family’s monetary problems, young Chanel was sent off to a monestary in Aubazine where she learned the trade of seamstress.
At the ripe age of 18, Coco left the monastery to work for a local tailor. While working there she met Étienne Balsan, a man whose generosity knew no bounds. He introduced Chanel to a life of “diamonds, dresses and pearls”. While Chanel lived with Balsan she started up a hobby of designing hats, which later helped her when she opened her first shop in 1913 selling fashionable raincoats and jackets.

From her humble beginnings as a simple seamstress, Chanel’s livelihood grew to include another shop in Brittany, France where she sold hats to famous French actresses. Thus, her reputation was established and by the 1920s she was expanding to include couture in her line. She started using simpler, less fashionable fabrics of the time, like jersey, which was a first in the French fashion world. According to Wikipedia, she told Harper’s Bazaar that “simplicity is the keynote of true elegance”. Her designs reflected this in her simple yet chic apparel. Interestingly enough, Chanel was quite instrumental in developing the style of the 1920’s flapper.

Chanel developed her signature cardigan jacket in 1925 and her signature “little black dress” in 1926. Her first signature fragrance, Chanel No. 5, introduced in 1921 has enjoyed immense success even until the present day. In fact, one Chanel No. 5 bottle is sold every 30 seconds. Impressive, I’d say.

As I mentioned previously, Coco Chanel had a nursing stint earlier in the First World War, and yet she’s noted more for affair with a Nazi Spy in WWII. As I had never heard this information prior to researching her on the net, it was rather interesting to me that Chanel has such an interesting liason. Unfortunately, the affair put a hold on her career as she was exiled, in a manner, to Switzerland. When she returned to Paris four years later her new collections took a while to gain success with the Parisian people. Instead, her designs took hold with Americans and her popularity grew worldwide.

Coco Chanel lived and worked in Paris until her death in 1971 at the ripe age of 87. Her legacy is a large one, full of enduring fashion classics, and yet her strong presence as a female figurehead is what makes her unforgettable still today.

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different”. -Coco Chanel