Coco Chanel: 5 Awe-Inspiring Facts You Didn’t Know About The Designer
As we celebrate the birthday of this true champion of style, Bazaar shares some unique facts you might not know about the legendary creative…
From tweed jackets to signature scents that has been around for decades, Bazaar looks through the archives for a few hidden gems from Mademoiselle Coco Chanel’s life.
Coco Chanel started her fashion career by designing hats…
She opened her first shop in Paris in 1913 with the help of one of her male admirers and began her career by selling hats. As she grew in popularity with credibility from French actresses at the time, she started selling clothing and other items as well.
She inspired women to adopt the new “garçon” style.
She had an innate ability to transform menswear into elegant feminine clothes, while prioritising women and using herself as a fit model. With the limitation in movement imposed by the Corsican, she designed practical, chic pieces to display functionality, radically changing women’s fashion since then.
Coco Chanel launched Chanel No 5 in her 20’s.
A scent that described the new age modern woman at the time is one of the most iconic perfumes ninety years later. It has been a success since then, both due to the ingenious marketing tricks using tag lines like “Every Woman Alive Loves Chanel No. 5,” and the raw scent of jasmine, rose, sandalwood and vanilla.
As a new vision for a fashion house at that time, Chanel created a scent that redefined the niche of perfumes thanks to the expertise of Ernest Beaux who worked for the Russian royal family. He was appointed by mademoiselle Chanel to bring her vision to life. The number was chosen as a fortune teller once told her that five was her lucky number.
She introduced the idea of the Little Black Dress to the world.
By making it affordable and easy-to-wear, the LBD was introduced by Chanel in the 1920s making it accessible for women of all social classes. The dress became a revolutionary feature in the world of fashion because it was introduced during the Great Depression where simple and affordable was of the essence and later became an elegant, staple piece in every woman’s closet without breaking the bank.
At the age of 71 she reopened her fashion house after it had been closed for 15 years.
During the war, the shop was shut for many years and she worked on re-launching her business in the year 1954. She reportedly mentioned to her friend that she was ‘dying of boredom.’
Lead image courtesy of instagram/Chanelofficial
