coco chanel biography.com

Coco Chanel

With her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today.

(1883-1971)

Who Was Coco Chanel?

Fashion designer Coco Chanel is famous for her timeless designs, trademark suits and little black dresses. In the 1920s, she launched her first perfume and eventually introduced the Chanel suit and the little black dress, with an emphasis on making clothes that were more comfortable for women. She herself became a much revered style icon known for her simple yet sophisticated outfits paired with great accessories, such as several strands of pearls.

Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France. Her early years were anything but glamorous. At age 12, after her mother’s death, Chanel was put in an orphanage by her father, who worked as a peddler.

Chanel was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew — a skill that would lead to her life’s work. Her nickname came from another occupation entirely. During her brief career as a singer, Chanel performed in clubs in Vichy and Moulins where she was called “Coco.”

Some say that the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, and Chanel herself said that it was a “shortened version of cocotte, the French word for 'kept woman,'” according to an article in The Atlantic .

Beginnings of a Fashion Empire

Around the age of 20, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan, who offered to help her start a millinery business in Paris. She soon left him for one of his wealthier friends, Arthur “Boy” Capel. Both men were instrumental in Chanel’s first fashion venture.

Opening her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910, Chanel started out selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began making clothes.

Her first taste of clothing success came from a dress she fashioned out of an old jersey on a chilly day. In response to the many people who asked about where she got the dress, she offered to make one for them. “My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville,” she once told author Paul Morand.

First Perfume

In the 1920s, Chanel took her thriving business to new heights. She launched her first perfume, Chanel No. 5, which was the first to feature a designer’s name. Perfume “is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion. . . . that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure,” Chanel once explained.

The fragrance was in fact also backed by department store owner Théophile Bader and businessmen Pierre and Paul Wertheimer, with Chanel developing a close friendship with Pierre.

A deal was ultimately negotiated where the Wertheimer business would take in 70 percent of Chanel No. 5 profits for producing the perfume at their factories, with Bader receiving 20 percent and Chanel herself only receiving 10 percent. Over the years, with No. 5 being a massive source of revenue, she repeatedly sued to have the terms of the deal renegotiated.

Iconic Designs: Chanel Suit & Little Black Dress

In 1925, Chanel introduced the now legendary Chanel suit with collarless jacket and well-fitted skirt. Her designs were revolutionary for the time—borrowing elements of men’s wear and emphasizing comfort over the constraints of then-popular fashions. She helped women say goodbye to the days of corsets and other confining garments.

Another 1920s revolutionary design was Chanel’s little black dress. She took a color once associated with mourning and showed just how chic it could be for evening wear.

Closing Down Shop

The international economic depression of the 1930s had a negative impact on Chanel's company, but it was the outbreak of World War II that led her to close her business. She fired her workers and shut down her shops.

After the war, Chanel left Paris, spending some years in Switzerland in a sort of exile. She also lived at her country house in Roquebrune for a time.

Return to Fashion

At the age of 70, in the early 1950s, Chanel made a triumphant return to the fashion world. She first received scathing reviews from critics, but her feminine and easy-fitting designs soon won over shoppers around the world.

DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S COCO CHANEL FACT CARD

Relationships and a Marriage Proposal

Beginning in 1920, Chanel had a short-lived relationship with composer Igor Stravinsky . Chanel had attended the notorious world premiere of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” in 1913.

Around 1923, she met the wealthy Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, aboard his yacht. The two started a decades-long relationship. In response to his marriage proposal, which she turned down, she reportedly said, “There have been several Duchesses of Westminster—but there is only one Chanel!”

Life as Nazi Agent

During the German occupation of France, Chanel got involved with a Nazi military officer, Hans Gunther von Dincklage. She got special permission to stay in her apartment at the Hotel Ritz in Paris, which also operated as German military headquarters.

After the war ended, Chanel was interrogated about her relationship with von Dincklage, but she was not charged as a collaborator. Some have wondered whether friend Winston Churchill worked behind the scenes on Chanel’s behalf.

While not officially charged, Chanel suffered in the court of public opinion. Some still viewed her relationship with a Nazi officer as a betrayal of her country.

READ MORE: Coco Chanel's Secret Life as a Nazi Agent

Chanel died on January 10, 1971, at her apartment in the Hotel Ritz. She never married, having once said “I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” Hundreds crowded together at the Church of the Madeleine to bid farewell to the fashion icon. In tribute, many of the mourners wore Chanel suits.

A little more than a decade after her death, designer Karl Lagerfeld took the reins at her company to continue the Chanel legacy. Today her namesake company is held privately by the Wertheimer family and continues to thrive, believed to generate hundreds of millions in sales each year.

Movies, Books and Plays on Chanel

In 1969, Chanel’s fascinating life story became the basis for the Broadway musical Coco , starring Katharine Hepburn as the legendary designer. Alan Jay Lerner wrote the book and lyrics for the show’s song while Andre Prévin composed the music. Cecil Beaton handled the set and costume design for the production. The show received seven Tony Award nominations, and Beaton won for Best Costume Design and René Auberjonois for Best Featured Actor.

Several biographies of the fashion revolutionary have also been written, including Chanel and Her World (2005), written by Chanel's friend Edmonde Charles-Roux.

In the 2008 television movie Coco Chanel , Shirley MacLaine starred as the famous designer around the time of her 1954 career resurrection. The actress told WWD that she had long been interested in playing Chanel. “What’s wonderful about her is she’s not a straightforward, easy woman to understand.”

In the 2008 film Coco Before Chanel, French actress Audrey Tautou played Chanel in her early years, from childhood to the founding of her fashion house. In 2009, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky detailed Chanel's relationship with the composer.

QUICK FACTS

• Birth Year: 1883
• Birth date: August 19, 1883
• Birth City: Saumur
• Birth Country: France
• Gender: Female
• Best Known For: With her trademark suits and little black dresses, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today.
• Astrological Sign: Leo
• Nacionalities
• Death Year: 1971
• Death date: January 10, 1971
• Death City: Paris
• Death Country: France

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: Coco Chanel Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/history-culture/coco-chanel
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: December 10, 2021
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• A woman has the age she deserves.
• Nature gives you the face you have at 20; it is up to you to merit the face you have at 50.
• [L]uxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.
• My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville.
• I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.
• What’s wonderful about her is she’s not a straightforward, easy woman to understand.
• Look at how ridiculous these women are, wearing clothes by a man who doesn’t know women, never had one, and dreams of being one!” (about Christian Dior's clothing)
• How could a brain function normally under all that?” (about ornate, heavy hats)
• Fashion is made to become unfashionable.
• Fashion is like a revolution—it only enters our lives after it has gone down in the streets.
• I love luxury. And luxury lies not in richness and ornateness but in the absence of vulgarity. Vulgarity is the ugliest word in our language. I stay in the game to fight it.
• I've always fled from boredom.
• Youth is something very new: Twenty years ago no one mentioned it.

Watch Next .css-16toot1:after{background-color:#262626;color:#fff;margin-left:1.8rem;margin-top:1.25rem;width:1.5rem;height:0.063rem;content:'';display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;}

Fashion Designers and Models

Alexander McQueen

Brooke Shields

Cindy Crawford Has Loved This Body Oil for Decades

Met Gala Newsmakers: Anna Wintour, Serena Williams

Gloria Vanderbilt

Leigh Bowery

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction & Top Questions

Fashion empire

Chanel no. 5, world war ii.

What is Coco Chanel known for?

How did coco chanel become famous, what was coco chanel’s family like.

Coco Chanel

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• PBS - Antiques Roadshow - Coco Chanel: Fashion Designer, Nazi Informant
• The MY HERO Project - Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel
• The Met - Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) and the House of Chanel
• Business of Fashion - Biography of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel
• National Public Radio - Coco Chanel: The Unlikely Fashion Icon
• Coco Chanel - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

When was Coco Chanel born, and when did she die?

Coco Chanel was born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France, and she died on January 10, 1971, in Paris, at the age of 87.

Coco Chanel was a fashion designer who ruled Parisian haute couture for almost six decades. She is known for the Chanel suit, the quilted purse, costume jewelry, and the “little black dress”—all now-classic innovations. Her designs stressed simplicity and comfort, and they revolutionized the  fashion industry . Chanel also introduced the iconic perfume Chanel No. 5.

Coco Chanel began working as a seamstress in her teens, and she opened a small millinery shop in Paris about a decade later, in 1910. In 1912 she established a boutique in Deauville, France. Her practical, elegant designs attracted influential women, and Chanel was soon heading a thriving couture house. “My life didn’t please me, so I created my life,” she said.

Coco Chanel’s parents were Eugénie Jeanne Devolle Chanel, a laundrywoman, and Albert Chanel, a street vendor. The Chanels had a total of six children, and the family lived in poverty in rural France. When she was 11, she was sent to live in an orphanage in Aubazine after her mother’s death. She moved to Moulins at age 18, and she lived in a convent while attending school. She was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. The origin of her nickname “Coco” is uncertain.

Coco Chanel (born August 19, 1883, Saumur , France—died January 10, 1971, Paris) was a French fashion designer who ruled Parisian haute couture for almost six decades. Her elegantly casual designs inspired women to abandon the complicated, uncomfortable clothes—such as petticoats and corsets —that were prevalent in early 20th-century dress . Among her now-classic innovations were the Chanel suit, the quilted purse, costume jewelry , and the “ little black dress.” She also was known for the iconic perfume Chanel No. 5.

She was born Gabrielle Chanel, although her surname was misspelled (Chasnel) on her birth certificate. Her parents were Eugénie Jeanne Devolle Chanel, a laundrywoman, and Albert Chanel, who worked as a street vendor. The family—which eventually included six children—lived in poverty while moving throughout the French countryside. After her mother died in 1895, 11-year-old Gabrielle Chanel was sent to a convent-run orphanage in Aubazine. It was there that she learned to sew.

At age 18, Chanel moved to Moulins , where she attended school while living in a convent. In 1902 she struck out on her own and became a seamstress. During this time Chanel also worked as a café singer. Although not a particularly gifted singer, she was a popular performer, known for her charisma . While the origin of her nickname “Coco” is uncertain, some believe it is a reference to several songs she performed: “Ko Ko Ri Ko” (“Cock-a-doodle-doo”) and “Qui qu’a vu Coco?” (“Has anyone seen Coco?”).

“My life didn’t please me, so I created my life.”

Chanel enjoyed an active social life and had affairs with various wealthy men, notably Arthur (“Boy”) Capel, with whom she had a relationship until his death in 1919. With his financial assistance, she opened Chanel Modes, a tiny millinery shop in Paris , in 1910. Two years later she established a boutique in Deauville , France . There she later sold simple sportswear, such as jersey sweaters. At the time jersey was an inexpensive fabric commonly used in men’s undergarments. However, Chanel transformed the fluid material into practical but elegant designs, many of which were inspired by menswear.

Within five years her original use of jersey to create a “poor girl” look had attracted the attention of influential wealthy women seeking relief from the prevalent corseted styles. Faithful to her maxim that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” Chanel’s designs stressed simplicity and comfort, and they revolutionized the fashion industry .

In 1926 Chanel continued to transform fashion by introducing the so-called “little black dress” (commonly called LBD). While Chanel was not the first fashion designer to use black, the color was commonly reserved for mourning attire or more formal wear. Chanel’s black dress, however, was incredibly versatile, easily transitioning from day to evening with the right accessories—such as the costume jewelry she often wore. The LBD was hailed for both its simplicity and mass appeal. Alluding to Henry Ford ’s revolutionary Model T car, American Vogue called the little black dress the “Ford of Fashion,” and it quickly became a fashion staple.

“A woman who doesn’t wear perfume has no future.”

While Chanel found immense success as a designer, the financial basis of her empire was Chanel No. 5. She developed the phenomenally successful perfume in 1921 with the help of Ernest Beaux, one of the most talented perfume creators in France. It has been said that the perfume got its name from the series of scents that Beaux created for Chanel to sample—she chose the fifth, a combination of jasmine and several other floral scents that was more complex and mysterious than the single-scented perfumes then on the market. Others, however, have noted that Chanel was superstitious and considered five to be her lucky number. That Chanel was the first major fashion designer to introduce a perfume and that she replaced the typical perfume packaging with a simple and sleek bottle also added to the scent’s success. The bottle’s top featured interlocking Cs, which later became the Chanel brand’s insignia.

Chanel then partnered with businessmen Théophile Bader of the Galeries Lafayette department store and the brothers Pierre and Paul Wertheimer of the Bourjois cosmetics company to distribute Chanel No. 5. The men agreed to help her produce more of her fragrance and to market it in exchange for a share of the profits. After signing a contract wherein she received only 10 percent of the royalties, Chanel enacted a series of lawsuits in the ensuing decades to regain control of her signature fragrance. Although she was never able to renegotiate the terms of her contract to increase her royalties, Chanel nonetheless made a considerable profit from the perfume.

Chanel closed her couture house in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II . At the time she was living at the Ritz Paris hotel, which became Nazi headquarters after France fell to Germany in 1940. There she began a romantic relationship with Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage, a German diplomat and Gestapo spy.

While researchers and biographers have demonstrated that Chanel was a collaborator, there is disagreement over the extent of her involvement with Nazis. Some allege that she only socialized with Germans, turning a blind eye to their activities. Others, however, assert that she was a Nazi agent. Of particular note is a trip she took to Madrid with a German intelligence agent in 1941. It is believed that she had entered into a deal with the Nazis to secure the release of her nephew, who was a prisoner of war in a German detention camp. Although it is unknown what she did in Madrid, soon after Chanel returned to France, her nephew was freed.

The Nazis reportedly gave Chanel the codename “Westminster,” likely alluding to her earlier affair with Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd duke of Westminster.

Less uncertain is Chanel’s support of some Nazi policies. Anti-Semitic , she petitioned Nazi officials for sole control of Chanel No. 5, arguing, among other things, that the Wertheimers were Jewish, which would preclude them from owning property. However, the Wertheimers had earlier turned their shares over to a non-Jewish businessman, and Chanel’s efforts were unsuccessful.

Soon after the Nazi occupation ended in 1944, Chanel was arrested by French authorities. However, no charges were brought, and Chanel later claimed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , a longtime friend, had intervened. She subsequently moved to Switzerland .

The Wertheimers acquired Chanel’s couture house for an undisclosed sum in 1954. The family remains the sole owners.

In the early 1950s Chanel began to contemplate a return to fashion. At the time French fashion had undergone a seismic change led by Christian Dior . He had created the widely copied New Look, a style defined by ultrafeminine, elaborate, and highly sculptured clothing. Chanel, who favored simpler and more comfortable designs, was derisive of the look, and at one point she claimed, “Dior doesn’t dress women, he upholsters them.”

In 1954 Chanel staged her first fashion show in some 15 years. Although the French press had negative reviews, the collection proved popular in the United States . That year Chanel also introduced her highly copied suit design: a collarless, braid-trimmed tweed jacket with a graceful skirt. By the end of the 1950s, she had also debuted several other iconic items, notably a quilted purse with gold chains and two-toned shoes. These creations helped Chanel reclaim her position as one of fashion’s most influential designers.

After her death in 1971, Chanel’s couture house was led by a series of designers, with Karl Lagerfeld ’s tenure (1983–2019) being the longest and most influential. Under their direction, the Chanel brand has remained one of the most influential and iconic. Coco Chanel’s shrewd understanding of women’s fashion needs, her enterprising ambition, and the romantic aspects of her life—her rise from rags to riches and her sensational love affairs—continue to inspire numerous biographical books, films, and plays. Notable examples include the 1969 Broadway musical Coco , which starred Katharine Hepburn as the legendary designer, and Coco avant Chanel (2009; Coco Before Chanel ), a biopic with Audrey Tautou in the title role.

Biography Online

Coco Chanel Biography

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chane l (19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971)

“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

Coco Chanel was a leading French modernist designer, whose patterns of simplicity and style revolutionised women’s clothing. She was the only designer to be listed in the Time 100 most influential people of the Twentieth Century.

“Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are women inside the dresses. Most women dress for men and want to be admired. But they must also be able to move, to get into a car without bursting their seams! Clothes must have a natural shape. ”

She also created her famous Chanel No.5 scent, and this has become a lasting trademark.

The early life of Coco Chanel

Most sources suggest Gabrielle Chanel was born in 1883, though this was a closely guarded fact – with Coco not keen on revealing her birth date. Her mother was unmarried and her upbringing was marked by poverty and uncertainty. Aged 12, her mother died, and her father sent his three daughters including Gabrielle to a convent in Correze. Life in the religious institution was strict and frugal, but she did learn to sew and gain a rudimentary knowledge of creating clothes.

At the age of 18, she left the convent and moved to Moulins. She gained work as a seamstress and pursued a secondary career singing at cabaret events; however, her singing was not good enough to enable a stage career. Around 1908, Chanel began an affair with Étienne Balsan, a rich aristocrat. This enabled Chanel to become acquainted with many wealthy aristocrats and a different social circle.

Early Chanel Casual wear – 1917

In 1913, with financial aid from a lover Arthur Capel, Chanel opened a boutique selling fashionable clothes in Deauville. She made innovative use of jersey fabric – a manufactured cloth which proved useful during the shortages of the First World War. She quickly gained a rising reputation for being on the forefront of fashion, and her initial success encouraged her to start another shop in Biarritz which prospered as a venue for the wealthy during the First World War.

By 1919, Chanel was able to open her first boutique in Paris on 31 rue Cambon, at the heart of the most fashionable area of Paris.

“In 1919 I woke up famous. I’d never guessed it. If I’d known I was famous, I’d have stolen away and wept. I was stupid. I was supposed to be intelligent. I was sensitive and very dumb.”

– Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971), p. 95

In the post-war period, she felt the need for a revolution in women’s clothes. She began by liberating women from the bondage of the corset and encouraged a casual but elegant range of clothes.

“With a black sweater and 10 rows of pearls Chanel revolutionized fashion”

– Dior on Coco Chanel.

The 1920s were a significant period of liberation for women. It was a decade where women received the vote in several western countries. It was also a time when women were increasingly seen in professions and jobs, previously the reserve of men. Her fashion symbolised some of these social and political changes.

Significant items of clothing Coco Chanel helped pioneer included:

• the collarless cardigan jacket
• the bias cut dress – labelled a Ford by one critic because everyone had one.
• The shoe string shoulder strap.
• The floating evening scarf
• The wearing together of junk and real jewels.

Chanel in sailors outfit 1928

In 1938, she retired from the fashion business. However, 16 years later, she made a determined comeback after becoming fed up with seeing French fashion become dominated by men.

Her first post-war collection was not well received by the critics, but it proved immensely popular with the general public. Rich and famous women once again adopted the Chanel look, and she had shown her lasting influence on the industry.

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

She prided herself on her great taste, fashion and practicality combined with an awareness of what people wanted. It was this that made her the most recognisable name in world fashion.

Chanel 2.55

Chanel was an innovator in many aspects of fashion. She developed a new kind of jewellery which imitated much more expensive jewellery. It enabled wealthy people to keep their expensive jewellery at home.

In 1929, she developed the iconic Chanel bag. Like other Chanel creations, it combined beauty, fashion and practicality. The thin strap – enabling hands to be kept free. In 1948, she updated the design to become the Chanel 2.55

Coco Chanel during World War Two

At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Chanel closed her shops, stating that war was not a time for fashion. Three thousand of her workers lost their jobs – it was seen partly as retaliation for previous conflicts with workers, where her workers had sought better wages and conditions.

Other declassified information shows that in 1943/44 Chanel was to be used as a courier for the SS to pursue a separate peace deal with Churchill and the Allies. The plan never succeeded.

In September 1944, Chanel was interrogated by the Free French Purge Committee, the épuration. She was released due to lack of evidence . Some sources suggest that Winston Churchill directly intervened to make sure Chanel was released – Churchill was possibly worried that if sent to trial, Chanel would embarrass the government with her links to top-ranking Nazi’s and sympathisers in the British establishment.

In the climate of post-war interrogations, Chanel moved to Switzerland where she resided until 1954. The post-war period saw the emergence of new male designers, such as Christian Dior, who began to eclipse Chanel’s branding. However, in 1954, she returned to Paris and reopened her couture house. Her post-war label was successful in America and Britain, but less so in France. Many Frenchmen continued to hold her war record against her.

Chanel never married or had children. During her life, she had numerous relationships with influential men. This included poet Pierre Reverdy and the designer Paul Iribe.

Many biographers have said that Coco Chanel remains an enigma – a life full of contradiction and hard to ascertain her real motives.

“Despite the work of a dozen biographers … Chanel remains an enigma.”

David Downie, in Paris, Paris: Journey Into the City of Light‎ (2005)

She died on 10 January 1971, aged 87 at the Hotel Ritz, where she had resided for more than 30 years.

In the 1960s, a Broadway musical was made about her life starring Katharine Hepburn.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of Coco Chanel”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net 26 Oct. 2009. Updated 1st March 2018.

Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon

Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon – Amazon

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the life

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the life – Amazon

Related pages

• Iconic women

Visiting Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion?

You must join the virtual exhibition queue when you arrive. If capacity has been reached for the day, the queue will close early.

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Gabrielle “coco” chanel (1883–1971) and the house of chanel.

• House of Chanel

Evening dress

Attributed to House of Chanel

Evening ensemble

Cocktail ensemble

Jessa Krick The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

Early Success Among the key designers who made a bold and lasting impression on women’s fashion in the twentieth century, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) deserves special recognition. Born in Saumur, in the Loire Valley of France, Chanel survived an impoverished childhood and strict convent education. The difficulties of her early life inspired her to pursue a radically different lifestyle, first on the stage, where she acquired the nickname “Coco,” and then as a milliner.

With the help of one of the male admirers who would provide key financial assistance and social connections over the course of her career, Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913, followed by another in the resort town of Deauville. Selling hats and a limited line of garments, Chanel’s shops developed a dedicated clientele who quickly made her practical sportswear a great success. Much of Chanel’s clothing was made of jersey, a choice of fabric both unusual and inspired. Until the designer began to work with it, jersey was more commonly used for men’s underwear. With her financial situation precarious in the early years of her design career, Chanel purchased jersey primarily for its low cost. The qualities of the fabric, however, ensured that the designer would continue to use it long after her business became profitable. The fabric draped well and suited Chanel’s designs, which were simple, practical, and often inspired by menswear, especially the uniforms prevalent when World War I broke out in 1914.

As her fashion-conscious customers fled Paris at the beginning of the war, Chanel’s boutiques in Deauville and Biarritz flourished. Chanel’s uncluttered styles, with their boxy lines and shortened skirts, allowed women to leave their corsets behind and freed them for the practical activities made necessary by the war. Elements of these early designs became hallmarks of the Chanel look ( 1975.7 ; 1984.28a–c ; 1976.29.7 ) Chanel took great pride as a woman in designing for other women, and by 1919, at the age of thirty-two, she enjoyed huge success, with clients around the world. Soon after, she relocated her couture house in Paris to 31 rue Cambon, which remains the center of operations for the House of Chanel today.

A Style Icon Chanel’s own lifestyle fueled her ideas of how modern women everywhere should look, act, and dress. Her own slim boyish figure and cropped hair became an ideal, as did her tanned skin, active lifestyle, and financial independence. Throughout her career, Chanel succeeded in packaging and marketing her own personal attitudes and style, making her a key arbiter of women’s taste throughout the twentieth century.

The designer’s passionate interests inspired her fashions. Her apartment and her clothing followed her favorite color palette, shades of beige, black, and white ( 1978.165.16a,b ; 1984.30 ). Elements from her art collection and theatrical interests likewise provided themes for her collections ( C.I.65.47.2a,b ). When Chanel attended a masquerade ball dressed as a figure from a Watteau painting , she later reworked the costume into a woman’s suit ( C.I.54.16.1a,b ). She hired Russian émigrés from her circle of friends to work in her embroidery workshop, creating designs to her exacting specifications. Known for a relentless drive for perfection, whether in design or fit, and strong opinions in all matters of taste, Chanel backed her clothing with the authority of her personal conviction.

Chanel continued to create successful looks for women through the 1920s and ’30s. In 1926, American Vogue likened Chanel’s “little black dress” to the Ford, alluding to its almost universal popularity as a fashion basic. In fact, the concept of the dress suitable for day and evening did become both a staple for Chanel throughout subsequent seasons and a classic piece of twentieth-century womenswear ( 1984.28a–c ). The designer also used colorful feminine printed chiffons in her daywear designs ( 1984.31a-c ). Evening ensembles followed the long slim line for which the designer was known, but also incorporated tulle, lace, and decorative elements that soften and romanticize the overall look of the garment ( 1978.165.16a,b ; C.I.46.4.7a-c ).

The Closure and the Comeback Despite her great success, Chanel closed the doors of her salon in 1939, when France declared war on Germany. Other couturiers left the country, but Chanel endured the war in Paris, her future uncertain. Following the end of the hostilities and resolution of some personal difficulties, Chanel found she could not idly stand by and observe the early success of Christian Dior , whose “New Look” prevailed in the postwar period. While many admired Dior’s celebration of femininity, with full skirts and nipped-in waists, Chanel felt his designs were neither modern nor suitable for the liberated women who had survived another war by taking on active roles in society. Just as she had following World War I, Chanel set out to rescue and reinvigorate women’s fashion.

The designer faced challenges in this endeavor: securing finances, assembling a new staff, seeking out new fabrics, competing at age seventy against a new generation of designers. Chanel’s comeback collection of couture debuted in 1953 (1976.370.2a-c). Although it was not a critical success, the designer persevered. Within three seasons, Chanel was enjoying newfound respect. She updated her classic looks, reworking the classic tweed designs until wealthy women and celebrities returned to the showroom in droves. The Chanel suit became a status symbol for a new generation, made of solid or tweed fabric, with its slim skirt and collarless jacket trimmed in braid, gold buttons, patch pockets, and—sewn into the hem—a gold-colored chain ensuring it hung properly from the shoulders. Chanel also reintroduced her handbags, jewelry, and shoes with great success in subsequent seasons.

The Legacy Continues Following Chanel’s death in 1971, several of her assistants designed the couture and ready-to-wear lines until Karl Lagerfeld (born 1938) took over the haute couture design in 1983 and ready-to-wear in 1984. Lagerfeld, like Chanel at the time of her comeback, looked to past designs for the secret to his success. His designs incorporated signature Chanel details, tweed fabrics, colors, gold chains, quilt-stitched leather, and the linked “CC” logo. In later collections, Lagerfeld became more irreverent, deconstructing some of the ladylike polish of Chanel’s 1960s looks. Playing with the fact that Chanel’s favorite jersey fabric had been used for men’s underwear at the turn of the twentieth century, Lagerfeld even incorporated men’s T-shirts and briefs into his designs ( 1993.104.2a–j ). Nonetheless, Lagerfeld’s ability to continuously mine the Chanel archive for inspiration testifies to the importance of Gabrielle Chanel’s contributions to women’s fashion in the twentieth century.

Krick, Jessa. “Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) and the House of Chanel.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chnl/hd_chnl.htm (October 2004)

Additional Essays by Jessa Krick

• Krick, Jessa. “ Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) and the House of Worth .” (October 2004)
• Krick, Jessa. “ Shoes in The Costume Institute .” (October 2004)

Related Essays

• American Ingenuity: Sportswear, 1930s–1970s
• Christian Dior (1905–1957)
• Dressing for the Cocktail Hour
• Haute Couture
• Twentieth-Century Silhouette and Support
• Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) and the House of Worth
• The Chiton, Peplos, and Himation in Modern Dress
• Classical Art and Modern Dress
• Classicism in Modern Dress
• Costume in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Cristobal Balenciaga (1895–1972)
• Design, 1900–1925
• Dress Rehearsal: The Origins of the Costume Institute
• Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
• Le Colis de Trianon-Versailles and Paris Openings
• Made in Italy: Italian Fashion from 1950 to Now
• Modern Materials: Plastics
• Nineteenth-Century Silhouette and Support
• School of Paris
• France, 1900 A.D.–present
• 20th Century A.D.
• Modern and Contemporary Art
• Undergarment
• Women Artists

Artist or Maker

• Chanel, Gabrielle "Coco"
• Dior, Christian
• Lagerfeld, Karl
• Watteau, Antoine

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Coco Chanel

So great is Coco Chanel's legacy that fans make pilgrimages to her Paris apartment (although she also lived in the Paris Ritz for 30 years), which is preserved as she left it and endlessly referenced for style - as is every image of her and every tiny thing she ever designed. From her use of monochrome to her oversized 'costume' pearls and cuffs, everything is still sublimely, continuously referenced. As she herself once said: "Fashion fades, only style remains the same."

• Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was born in 1883 and died in 1971 • She created a new look for women in the 20th century, creating clothes that were primarily comfortable. A Chanel suit of 1923 or handbag is still seen as a landmark purchase for women of increasingly younger ages • The Chanel No.5 scent is the best selling in the world • The interlocking Cs of Coco Chanel remain one of the ultimate brand insignia • Since 1983, Chanel has been designed by Karl Lagerfeld • The building where her apartment is in Paris was bought by Chanel in 1920, and still houses the ground-floor shop, the haute couture workrooms in the attic (where 100 seamstresses still work entirely by hand), and what is now Karl Lagerfeld's study

Coco Chanel's bobbed hair, bright red lips and outspoken manner also broke the mould. This smoking, outspoken woman never married - although she had relations with the English industrialist Arthur "Boy" Capel - who lent her the money to buy Rue Cambon - Igor Stravinsky and the second Duke of Westminster Hugh "Bendor" Grosvenor, the richest man in Europe. Keira Knightley followed Kate Moss as the new face of Coco Mademoiselle in 2007. The brand could not be more alive with watches, beauty, fragrance, womenswear and new stores. In 2009 a biopic film based on her life titled 'Coco before Chanel' was released. Audrey Tatou was given the lead-role and follows as she goes from orphan to Haute Couture designer.

Biography of Coco Chanel, Famed Fashion Designer and Executive

Apic / Getty Images

• Important Figures
• History Of Feminism
• Women's Suffrage
• Women & War
• Laws & Womens Rights
• Feminist Texts
• American History
• African American History
• African History
• Ancient History and Culture
• Asian History
• European History
• Latin American History
• Medieval & Renaissance History
• Military History
• The 20th Century
• B.A., Mundelein College
• M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (August 19, 1883–January 10, 1971) opened her first millinery shop in 1910, and in the 1920s she rose to become one of the premier fashion designers in Paris. Replacing the corset with comfort and casual elegance, her fashion themes included simple suits and dresses, women's trousers, costume jewelry, perfume, and textiles.

She is particularly known for introducing the world to the iconic little black dress as well as a perfume, Chanel No. 5, in 1922. It is, to this day, one of the most famous perfumes of all time.

Fast Facts: Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

• Known For : Founder of the House of Chanel, creator of the Chanel suit, Chanel jacket, and bell bottoms, Chanel No. 5 perfume
• Also Known As : Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel
• Born : August 19, 1883 in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France
• Parents : Eugénie Jeanne Devolle, Albert Chanel
• Died : January 10, 1971 in Paris, France
• Awards and Honors : Neiman Marcus Fashion Award, 1957
• Notable Quotes : "A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." ... "Fashion fades, only style remains the same." ... "Fashion is what one wears oneself. What is unfashionable is what other people wear."

Early Years and Career

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel claimed to be born in 1893 at Auvergne, but she was actually born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France. According to her version of her life story, her mother worked in the poorhouse where Chanel was born and died when she was only 6, leaving her father with five children whom he promptly abandoned to the care of relatives.

She adopted the name Coco during a brief career as a cafe and concert singer from 1905 to 1908. First a mistress of a wealthy military officer and then of an English industrialist, Chanel drew on the resources of these patrons in setting up a millinery shop in Paris in 1910, expanding to Deauville and Biarritz. The two men also helped her find customers among women of society, and her simple hats became popular.

The Rise of a Fashion Empire

Soon, Coco was expanding to couture and working in jersey, a first in the French fashion world. By the 1920s, her fashion house had expanded considerably, and her chemise set a fashion trend with its "little boy" look. Her relaxed fashions, short skirts, and casual look were in sharp contrast to the corset fashions popular in the previous decades. Chanel herself dressed in mannish clothes and adapted these more comfortable fashions, something that other women also found liberating.

In 1922, Chanel introduced a perfume, Chanel No. 5, which became and remained popular, and remains a profitable product of Chanel's company. Pierre Wertheimer became her partner in the perfume business in 1924, and perhaps also her lover. Wertheimer owned 70% of the company; Chanel received 10 percent and her friend, Théophile Bader, 20 percent. The Wertheimers continue to control the perfume company today.

Chanel introduced her signature cardigan jacket in 1925 and iconic little black dress in 1926. Most of her fashions had a staying power and didn't change much from year to year—or even generation to generation.

World War II Break and Comeback

Chanel briefly served as a nurse during World War II . Nazi occupation meant the fashion business in Paris was cut off for some years; Chanel's affair during World War II with a Nazi officer also resulted in some years of diminished popularity and an exile of sorts to Switzerland.

In 1954, her comeback restored her to the top ranks of haute couture. Her natural, casual clothing including the Chanel suit, once again caught the eye—and purses—of women. She introduced pea jackets and bell bottom pants for women.

In addition to her work with high fashion, Chanel also designed stage costumes for such plays as "Cocteau's Antigone" (1923) and " Oedipus Rex " (1937) and film costumes for several movies, including Renoir's "La Regle de Jeu." Katharine Hepburn starred in the 1969 Broadway musical "Coco" based on the life of Coco Chanel. A 2008 television movie "Coco Chanel" starred Shirley MacLaine portraying the famous designer around the time of her 1954 career resurrection.

Death and Legacy

Chanel worked right up to the time she died. Though she was ailing and in declining health by the early 1970s, she continued to direct her company. In January 1971, she began preparing the spring catalog for her firm. She took a long drive on the afternoon of January 9 and then went to bed early, feeling ill. She died the next day, January 10, 1971, at the Hotel Ritz in Paris, where she had lived for more than three decades.

Chanel was worth a reported $15 billion when she died. And though her career had its ups and downs, her legacy in the fashion industry is assured. In addition to perfumes and the little black dress, Chanel helped popularize costume jewelry, trousers, tweed jackets, and short hair for women—all of which were considered fashion no-no's before Chanel came onto the scene. The company also created such iconic items as black bouclé jackets, two-tone ballet pumps, and an array of quilted handbags.

Designer Karl Lagerfeld took the reins at Chanel in 1983 and lifted the company back to prominence. He ran Chanel right up until his death on Februry 19, 2019, as the company's creative director. Virginie Viard, Lagerfeld's right-hand woman for more than three decades, was named to succeed him. Chanel is a private company owned by the Wertheimer family and continues to thrive; it reported sales of nearly $10 billion for the 2017 fiscal year.

• Alkayat, Zena.  Library of Luminaries: Coco Chanel: An Illustrated Biography . Illustrated by Nina Cosford. 2016.
• Garelick, Rhonda K.  Mademoiselle: Coco Chanel and the Pulse of History.  2015.
• Coco Chanel Quotes
• Diane von Furstenberg Quotes
• Top 100 Women of History
• Anna Arnold Hedgeman
• A'Lelia Walker
• Biography of Hilda Doolittle, Poet, Translator, and Memoirist
• 35 Zora Neale Hurston Quotes
• Mary Surratt: Executed as Conspirator in Assassination of Lincoln
• Barbara Kruger
• Maria Mitchell: First Woman in US Who Was a Professional Astronomer
• Biography of Elizabeth Arden, Cosmetics and Beauty Executive
• Margaret Jones
• Abigail (Dane) Faulkner
• Sarah Good Biography
• Profile of Elizabeth How, Persecuted Salem Witch

• Skip to main content
• Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Tell Me More Celebrates Women's History Month

Coco chanel: the unlikely fashion icon.

Bridget DeChagas

Coco Chanel

Buy featured book.

Your purchase helps support NPR programming. How?

• Independent Bookstores

Fashion designer Coco Chanel has been credited with developing the "modern woman." She once said, "I had rediscovered honesty, and in my own way, I made fashion honest." By loosening waistlines, shortening hemlines and embracing pants, Chanel redefined women's style. She was inspired by men's wear: shirts with clean collars, simple sweaters and loose belted jackets. She liberated women from constrictive clothing by making clothes that women could move in. Her designs were a symbol of the independent woman she was.

How she would become one of the most influential fashion icons of all time is the subject of Lisa Chaney's biography "Coco Chanel: An Intimate Portrait." The book was discussed on NPR's Tell Me More as a part of the program's biography series for Women's History Month.

Chanel was born into dire poverty and orphaned at age 11. "By the time I was 12, I realized that money is freedom," she said. She would eventually become the mistress of powerful men – one of the few options available to poor women in early 20th century France to escape poverty. What she never escaped though was the fear of her early life.

Chaney describes for Tell Me More host Michel Martin how very complex Chanel was: Her heart was broken when the love of her life died in a car accident; and she had romances with artist Salvador Dali, a Duke of Westminster, composer Igor Stravinsky and even a Nazi spy. That affair, during WWII, is still a point of criticism as some claim Chanel was an anti-Semite. She has also been criticized for her treatment of employees when she closed her salon during the war. "I think it was a terrible, terrible thing to do. But she was hard. She was hard but she wasn't only hard. And I try really hard in the book to paint a nuanced picture of a woman who was deeply complex and who could be very hard but wasn't only hard," said Chaney.

After the war, Chanel's comeback is credited to the United States. In 1954, the American edition of Vogue magazine lauded the redesigned Chanel suit. While many women will never have the financial means to afford couture Chanel, her influences are seen in today's shoulder bag, sling back shoes and the little black dress.

"She was a force of nature. She was very impressive in many, many ways," Chaney said. "And I think she gave women – all of the 20th and 21st century – I think she gave us an enormous amount. It really wasn't just the clothes. The clothes were a reflection of her life."

Related NPR Stories

Bad girls of history, how wicked were they, 'audacious' black ballerinas had to be on point.