Born on August 19th in 1883, fashion designer Coco Chanel is known for the Chanel suit, Chanel jacket, bell-bottom trousers and Chanel No.5 perfume. Her full name was Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. This article offers more information about Coco Chanel and her endeavours as a fashion designer.
Biography
Prior to becoming interested in fashion, Gabrielle was born to a mother who worked in a poorhouse, dying when Gabrielle was only six years old. Her father was left to raise her along with five other children. He abandoned them all to relatives to care for them.
Gabrielle became known as Coco when she used to sing in cafes between 1905 and 1908. She later became the mistress of a successful military officer and then an English industrialist. It was the resources of these two men that Coco drew on in order to be able to start up her millinery shop that started in Paris, and then spread to Deauville and Biarritz.
Coco Chanel became a premier fashion designer in Paris, starting with the opening of her first millinery shop in 1912. She became famous for losing the corset in favour of comfort and casual elegance. Her designs included suits, trousers, dresses and perfumes.
Clothing
Coco began working in couture, and she became famous for the fashion trend which gave women a little boy look. This was in deep contrast to the corset fashion that was popular at the time. Coco enjoyed wearing her own fashions.
Coco’s signature cardigan jacket design was introduced in 1925, followed by the little black dress in 1926. The fashion Coco created did not tend to develop and change very much, and are still popular in the modern world.
Perfume
Chanel No. 5 perfume came about in 1922. This perfume is still popular today. Coco found a partner in Pierre Wertheimer for her perfume business in 1924, and he owned 70% of the business against Coco’s 10%, with her friend Bader taking 20%. The perfume business is still controlled by Wertheimer today.
