COCO CHANEL ---- RESEARCH
"A WOMAN HAS THE AGE SHE DESERVES"-COCO CHANEL
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Real name: Gabrielle Chanel
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born August 19th 1883.
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died January 10 1971.
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French fashion designer.
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founder of Chanel.
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known for the little black dress.
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Raised in Saumar, France.
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Died in Paris, France.
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created the double-C logo for Chanel.
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dated a Nazi officer during WWII.
^PRESS PLAY^
BIOGRAPHY
WHO WAS SHE?
She was a French fashion designer who was famous for her trademark Chanel designs of suits and the little black. Gabrielle (Coco) was raised in an orphanage growing up and in that orphanage is where Coco learned how to sew. Coco started to get into the fashion and fragrance world in the early 1920s.
HER EARLY YEARS
Coco's real name is Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Coco may have lived a life of luxury and high fashion, but it was not always like that for Coco. Her father put her into an orphanage after her mother passes away. Gabrielle was raised by nuns. The way she got her name 'Coco' is when she used to sing and performed in clubs she was called "Coco".
FASHION AND FRAGRANCE
Coco was around 20 when she started working with a man named Etienne Balsan. He helped Coco get her start in hat-making in Paris, France. Then in 1910 Coco opened her first hat shop in Paris. She started to add more and more stores there was one in Deauville and Biarrtiz. Once she opened more shops she started making more than
just hats she started to make clothes as well. Coco spoke about her first experience making clothes. She fashioned a dress out of an old jersey. Then in the 1920s Coco took her brand and her business to the next level by introducing her first perfume
Chanel No.5. was a massive source of revenue for the Chanel brand and Coco's business' brand grew and grew.
THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS AND THE SUIT
The year was 1925 when Chanel introduce the world to the legendary Chanel suits with the
collarless jacket and the well-fitted skirt. Chanel's designs were absolutely revolutionary during this time where men were usually the ones to wear the suit. Coco helped women of this time say good-bye to the uncomfortable corset of everyday life. Another 1920s design Coco Chanel revolutionized is the little black dress we all know and love today. Her thought process during this design was to talk this color that people associated with death and make it fashionable and practical which I think we can all agree that she did successfully.
“Nature gives you the face you have at 20; it is up to you to merit the face you have at 50.”
—Coco Chanel
“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)”
—Coco Chanel
“[L]uxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”
—Coco Chanel
“Fashion is made to become unfashionable.”
—Coco Chanel
“Fashion is like a revolution—it only enters our lives after it has gone down in the streets.”
—Coco Chanel
COCO CHANEL
Coco Chanel's clothing reflected her and what she wanted fashion to be. She was a forward thinker who was ahead of her time. Coco was a visionary who witness the drastic changes in women's lives.
Chanel as a brand empowered woman through clothes and this changed the way woman saw themselves and how they felt about themselves. Coco's designs made women aware of their own body. The clothes allowed women to move freely and the designs were practical and comfortable for women to wear every day.
Coco believed that true beauty comes from within the person and that covering the body comfortably could free the spirit. Coco did what she wanted when she wanted when it came to her designs. Coco Chanel is the embodiment of style.
I find Coco to be a visionary not only in the fashion industry but in the art world, an also a feminist icon. She created fashon for women to feel good and confident. I love her message and what she stood for. Her clothes are not my particular style, but she was successful with her simplistic, posh designs. Coco overall revolutionized fashion especially women's fashion. How we see the professional woman today is all thanks to Coco Chanel.
