She lives on for us fashion bloggers and personal stylists as well as the everyday 'joe' or 'jane' that goes into any store to purchase a white shirt, or black suit or anything where your goal is classic styling. Gabrielle didn't invent the word, she simply lived the concept! So, what do we need to know about Gabrielle Chanel?
- Gabrielle was born in Saumur, Southern France on August 19, 1883
- She started out designing hats in Paris in 1908
- Coco started haute couture in Biarritz in 1916
- Her first fabrics were wool jersey which were not considered fashionable at the time
- Gabrielle died in her Paris apartment in 1971
- She spent her early teenage years in an orphanage with her two sisters
- Coco was often seen in menswear rather than items befitting women of her time such as corsets
- Chanel No 5 is the first designer brand perfume
- Gabrielle used to concoct stories of her childhood that didn't include her humble beginnings but rather her life living with two spinster aunts while her father sailed to the US
- Hot Stuff: Coco opened her first shop in Paris in 1913 with the assistance of one of her many male admirers!
- Cooky fact: Chanel was arrested and thrown in jail for war crimes, but avoided trial at the behest of the British Royal family!
Trademark: practical clothes including pants for women, little black dresses, collarless jackets with bias edging, and brass buttons...the Chanel suit!
