The life of Coco Chanel, the French designer who revolutionized the way women dress, was both controversial and fascinating. Despite growing up in an orphanage, her talent and vision led her to develop an unknown concept of femininity and build a fashion empire. Through fashion, Coco Chanel freed women from the dress conventions of the time, dominated by corsetry and rigidity.
Birth and early years
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in Saumur, France, on August 19, 1883, to a humble family. Her mother, Eugénie Jeanne Devolle, was a laundress at a local charity hospital, and her father, Albert Chanel, was a traveling salesman.
Following the sudden death of her mother, Coco, aged just 8, was sent with her siblings to an orphanage run by nuns. During her stay at the orphanage/convent she learned to sew, embroider and iron, skills that would later serve her well in her successful career as a seamstress.
Also read: Coco Chanel: her story, biography and influence on fashion
From seamstress to hat designer
After leaving boarding school, Gabrielle found a job as a seamstress in the town of Moulins, which she supplemented by singing in the evenings in a Moulins cabaret frequented by French cavalry officers. It was then that she met the former cavalry officer and wealthy heir to a textile company, Etienne Balsan, with whom she had a long romance.
Balsan introduced the seamstress to a life of luxury and leisure. While living with the young heir, Gabrielle began designing hats, a hobby that allowed her to establish a large business. In 1910, with the help of Etienne, Gabrielle opened the Chanel Modes shop at 21 rue Cambon in Paris to sell her creations. Thanks to Etienne’s contacts, Coco began to have a space in the exclusive Parisian fashion world and her shop became very popular.
A couple of years later, Coco had a tumultuous love affair with polo player Boy Chapel. Like Etienne, Chapel had a significant influence on her career as a designer. His sartorial style inspired her to create the “Chanel” look.
The success of Chanel Modes stores
Following the success of her first business, Coco Chanel opened a second store with funding from Chapel, but this time selling jackets, sweaters and sailor blouses, in the luxurious area of Deauville in 1913. Shortly thereafter, the designer opened a new boutique in Biarritz, a place frequented by wealthy people and war exiles.
The boutique became so popular that, thanks to the sales it made in one year, Coco Chanel was able to repay Capel’s initial investment in the stores. Sadly, Chanel’s relationship with Capel ended abruptly with his death in 1919.
After opening her third store, Coco Chanel met Duke Dimitri Romanov, with whom she had a romance.
Road to stardom
Following the overwhelming success of her stores, Chanel managed to build a vast fashion empire with new proposals in women’s clothing. The use of the corset, so popular at that time, was replaced by more modern garments and the use of trousers was introduced among women.
When World War I broke out, women were forced to work in factories and Coco had no choice but to reinvent herself. It was then that she created her iconic perfume Chanel No5 with the help of Russian-born perfumer Ernest Beaux. The fragrance was launched to great acclaim in 1921 and still retains the same scent to this day.
Another of her contributions to fashion was the popular black mini dress known as the petite robe noire, which became the emblem of her brand, along with the classic pearl necklace with brooches.
Throughout that decade, Chanel had several romantic relationships with famous people and in the following decade she became the personal fashion designer of several Hollywood actresses such as Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich.
Accused of being a Nazi spy
In 1939, when World War II broke out, Chanel was forced to close all of her stores except for one that sold perfumes. During her stay in Nazi Paris, she had a love affair with German-born diplomat Hans Gunther von Dincklage. Five years later, she was accused of being a Nazi spy and imprisoned, but was released shortly after.
After this incident, the designer’s image and reputation were called into question, so she had to move to the Swiss town of Lausanne, where she lived for several years.
The great empire of Coco Chanel
Upon returning to Paris in 1954, Chanel presented what was to be the most iconic and important collection of her career. One of the main pieces was the tweed suit and the iconic 2.55 bag, earning her the respect of the French people once again. Her collections were so successful that many high society women chose to wear her new designs, one of them being Jackie Kennedy, the wife of the President of the United States.
In early 1970 Chanel began to suffer from osteoarthritis, a disease that caused her much pain . This led her to live her last years in solitude, accompanied only by a few friends. On January 9, 1971, she began to feel ill and decided to lie down. The next morning, she died of a heart attack alone in the suite of the Ritz hotel in Paris where she lived.