Coco Chanel is know for building a luxury brand, by she grew up as an orphan in a convent. Learn how to used her wiles to become famous and build a business.

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The Mystique of Coco Chanel
You live but once; you might as well be amusing.
Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel lived a glamorous life with beautiful clothes, famous friends, and rich lovers. She
was the epitome of chic in her day, yet more than forty years after her death and a hundred years
after opening her first shop she continues to inspire and amuse. Small wonder that her label
continues to endure when so many others have come and gone. Chanel is the 2nd oldest couture
house still operating (1909); only Lanvin is older (1889).
So how did it all start? At some grand chateau in the South of France? A fairy tale romance
between a lord and lady? A legendary match of artists?
Not exactly.
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in Saumur, France in the summer of 1883 to a market
stallholder, Albert Chanel, and his laundress girlfriend, Jeanne Devolle. It was their second child,
and they married later that year and had four more children in quick succession. When Gabrielle
was 12, her mother died of tuberculosis, and her father quickly abandoned the family. Gabrielle
and her siblings were sent to a Catholic orphanage in Central France.
The nuns taught Gabrielle how to sew. When she visited her mothers relatives during school
breaks, her aunts taught her how to sew with flair and style. Gabrielle learned the trade willing
enough, but had her sights set on something else: a singing career.
When she turned 18 in 1901, she left the orphanage and became a singer in Moulins, taking the
stage name Coco Chanel (coco is short for coquette, the French word for kept woman). When the
singing didnt pan out, she took a job in a tailoring shop where she soon met a young, rich French
textile heir named tienne Balsan. She became tiennes mistress, and he introduced her to the
good life of fast cars, fine food, and beautiful homes. Gabrielle kept her tailoring job for a while,
but left it to travel and party with tienne. In her down time, she began making hats. In 1909, she
and tienne ended their relationship, but he lent her his Paris apartment to start her hat shop, which
she opened on the ground floor. She also became the mistress of one of tiennes friends, Arthur
Capel.
Arthur helped her find a proper location for her hat shop on the Rue Cambon in Paris in 1910.
She began adding clothes in 1912 and by 1913, had opened additional locations in Deauville and
Biarritz, seaside resort towns in the north and south. Her clothes were simple and comfortable
and a welcomed change from the ornate styles of the period. She made jersey fashionable,
because she couldnt afford expensive fabrics in the beginning. During World War I, she drew

2. inspiration from military uniforms, and her sailor and menswear styles were an instant hit. By
1915, Harpers Bazaar was calling her, One to watch.
Chanel No. 5Coco Chanel became known for her meticulousness and her attention to detail. She
began beading evening dresses in the 1920s, as was the fashion, but she also began introducing
two and three piece day suits, which have been the signature of her house ever since. She
debuted her first perfume, Chanel No. 5, in 1921, costume jewelry in 1924, cardigan sweaters in
1925, and the little black dress in 1926. She also began a romance with the Hugh Grosvenor, the
Duke of Westminster, who was divorcing his 2nd wife and very much wanted Coco to be his 3rd.
She reportedly told him, There have been many Duchesses of Westminster but there is only one
Coco Chanel. (She knew what she was talking about the duke was married four times).
By the 1930s, The House of Chanel was catering to the couture elite and enjoying tremendous
success. Their main competitor was the Italian Elsa Schiaparelli, who created outrageous and
ornate ensembles as compared to Chanels simple and refined looks. Coco referred to the House
of Schiaparelli as, Those little dresses.
When World War II began in 1939, Coco Chanel retired and moved to the Hotel Ritz in Paris with
her new beau, Nazi officer Hans Gunther von Dincklage. Only her perfume and accessories were
sold in her existing shops. The relationship caused her problems after the war; she was accused
of aiding the Germans and arrested after the liberation. Winston Churchill intervened and had her
released, but she packed up and fled to Switzerland, where she remained for several years.
Chanel, 1950'sShe finally returned to Paris in 1953 to find the city abuzz about Dior and his very
feminine New Look. To reinvent herself and compete, Coco knew it would require a sizable
investment, and she turned to Pierre Wertheimer, the partner behind her perfume line and with
whom shed had a love/hate business relationship for 30+ years, to help her start again. He
agreed, and The House of Chanel re-opened in 1954 to great fanfare. She relaunched the Chanel
suit, introduced the quilted Chanel bag, and ventured into mens fragrances with Pour Monsieur.
By 1960, she was once again the undisputed Queen of Paris fashion.
She continued to challenge herself throughout the 1960s, and was working on the Fall 1971
collection when she died of a heart attack in her home at the Hotel Ritz in January 1971 at age 87.
At the time of her death, the Wertheimer family owned a 90% stake in the House of Chanel.
Pierres son, Jacques, quickly bought out the remaining 10%, but was more interested in his race
horses than the fashion house, and the brand began to wane from neglect. Jacques son, Alain,
took over in 1974, and spent the next decade re-creating the cachet that Chanel once had by
pulling Chanel perfumes out of drugstores and putting them back in department stores and
boutiques. He also searched for a head designer who shared his vision, and upon finding him,
Karl Lagerfeld, convinced him to end his contract with Chloe and come design for Chanel in 1983.
Since then, Chanel has grown into a multi-billion dollar a year enterprise, offering clothing,
accessories, and beauty products online and in 310 boutiques and department stores world wide.
Its one of the most iconic brands in the world, and a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is reportedly sold
somewhere every 30 seconds, generating $100 million a year on that fragrance alone.
From an orphaned wannabe singer to a potential duchess to a legendary fashion designer, Coco

3. Chanel lived the kind of life few will ever know. She took away the staunch corsets of the Victorian
era and clothed women in comfortable clothes they looked and felt good wearing. In the end, isnt
that what fashion is all about?
You can see the current Chanel offerings here.
Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.
Coco Chanel
(c) Diana Pemberton-Sikes
FashionForRealWomen.com
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