Coco Chanel Introduction

Gabrielle Chanel once said, "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.” Today, many fashionistas say that Coco Chanel is one of the best known, most widely copied, and longest-lived fashion icon of the twentieth century. Coco Chanel’s designs are still worn by women today. Many researchers believe that Chanel was planning for her clothing to be worn past the Twentieth Century. After the death of her mother and abandonment by her father, Chanel was placed in an orphanage with her two sisters. Later, she got a job as a tailor and built up her reputation as a seamstress. People started to come from all over to get their clothes tailored by Chanel, and finally she opened her own store in her apartment. Arthur Capel, her first true lover, gave her a little shop on the streets of Paris where she could tailor and sell clothes. Chanel was underestimated by many people who said that her designs and creativeness were so unconventional, that she would make no profit or impact on fashion. However, because of Coco Chanel’s creativity she proved her critics wrong. Coco Chanel changed the face of modern fashion with her unique views of clothing.

Gabrielle Chanel, also known as Coco, was born on August 19, 1883 in a town near Issoire in south-central France. In February 1895, when Gabrielle was six years old her mother, Jeanne Devolle, died due to bronchitis. To make matters worse, Gabrielle and her two sisters were placed in an orphanage and her three brothers were sent away as farm laborers when their father, Albert Chanel, abandoned them shortly after their mother died. In this orphanage, in Correze France, Gabrielle got...

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...he great depression. Coco Chanel’s clothing was incredibly easy for “new” women to wear. This was due to the fact that Chanel had a very “boyish” figure. Unlike the earlier fashion era of complex dresses, many people commented that it all looked very youthful and effortless. Chanel did not only change clothing, but she changed the colors that people use in their clothing. She did not realize what she had done when she changed the face of fashion. Many fashion designers have tried to copy Coco Chanel’s elegant and simple look. Chanel did not mind being copied because she knew that her craftsmanship was unique and nobody could completely copy her. She proved this by never joining the Chambre Syndical de la Couture Parisians, a group that tried to protect French creativity against piracy. Coco Chanel's styles are still a big part of today’s modern culture of fashion.