Gabrielle „Coco“ Chanel was born on August 19th, 1883 in Samur. She was the daughter of Jeanne Devolle and Albert Chanel, a travelling salesman, who were not married. After the death of her mother, Gabrielle lived at the convent of Aubazine.
Later she went to a boarding school in Moulins. After school she started a career as a singer. Most of the time she sang “Ko Ko Ri Ko” and “Qui qua vu Coco”. Because she was always singing these songs she was given the name “Coco”. Having had poor success with singing, she made her first collection for some friends of hers. This was a hat collection.

Her entree to high society was the relationship with Arthur “Boy” Capel, who became her true love. He was also the one who gave her support and enabled her to open her first hat boutique, her first fashion boutique and her first fashion house. This was the starting point of her big empire.
After the tragic death of “Boy” Capel, who died in a car accident in December 1919, Coco went to Paris. This was one of the worst experiences in her life. In the following years she had a lot of other affairs (Strawinsky, Pawlowitsch, Reverdy, Westminster) but she never married or had children.

In 1921 she started a third career with perfume. She created “Chanel No.5”. In 1927 she opened her first boutique in London and one year later she made her first tweed costume. She also opened a boutique especially for accessories in Paris. United Artists contracted Coco to style their stars. The dresses in “Tonight or Never” were also styled by Chanel. After the death of Paul Iribe, a good friend and old lover, Coco left her flat in Rue de Faubourg Saint-Honore and checked in at the Ritz. In 1934 Coco opened an atelier for fashion jewellery only.

At the beginning of World War II Chanel closed her empire, only one shop stayed open: Rue Cambon No. 31, where you could buy perfume and accessories. Coco had started an affair with Hans Günther von Dickhans, which may have been the reason of being arrested and interrogated by the French police.
After the end of World War II, Coco left France and went to Switzerland. In 1954 she started her big comeback and had a lot of success: “Mademoiselle”, as she was called, was back.
She died on January 10th, 1971 and rests in Lausanne.

FASHION IS FLEETING: STYLE ISN`T

CHANEL IS STYLE

Coco Chanel’s fashion- style is a symbol of traditional elegance. Her designs are classics and often have often been copied by other designers. She never overloaded her clothes with useless details. Chanel minimised details, and so her garments got the simple noble spell. The beginning of Coco Chanel’s career are the 1920ies. At that time it was en vogue to wear clothes with o lot of tills, trains or synthetic flowers. Coco hated the coquettish style and corsets, too. She designed simple loose blouses, and chemises. The waist line slimmed down, and gave the outfit a youthful touch. A new garment was born, to worn without corsets, and with an upright silhouette. Coco Chanel played with the androgynous look for women and gave them a female note. She took sailor suits and sweaters, and changed them into fashion for women. Accessories were a lot of pearl necklaces. This kind of functional fashion received an enthusiastic welcome in the world of fashion. Coco Chanel has revolutionised the garments for women, and created a new feeling for harmony, because she didn’t emphasise the waist line. Furthermore she took cheap Jersey, which before had been only used for underwear, and manufactured this to hanging jackets, with big piled pockets, without any waist line. Chanel continued her style consistently, designed simple jersey dresses, sporty jersey costumes, jumpers and pleated skirts, which were nearly knee length. Although her creations showed the legs, Chanel never reduced women only to the way they looked, or to their social status. With her designs, she gave them the chance to move . Her clothes looked female, avantgardistic and for all that emancipated. Coco Chanel’s idea was to created a costume, which you could be varied whenever you wanted, and which fit every occasion. The typical „Chanel costume“ arose. A gentle costume with a loose small jacket and comfortable skirt. This garment was often varied: in colours, in different materials, designs and border hems. The original „Chanel costumes“ can be recognised by their upper seams and the small metal chain which is sewn into the hem. Coco Chanel created the „little black dress“, which became famous in the 1950ies and is remarkable for its plain elegance. Another popular outfit are the „yachting pants“. They were based on sailor’s bell bottoms. Coco Chanel is supposed to be the inventor of fashion jewellery. She liked to mix imitation jewels with real jewels and often combined massive amounts with sportswear. For Chanel Fashion jewellery was an object of prestige, often very trashy and so a contrast to her simple dresses. The jewellery featured a lot of glittery stones, coloured glass fragments and was bordered with gold. Another important element in her style is the perfume, Coco’s „Chanel No. 5“. She was the opinion that you needed a harmonious perfume for a perfect outfit. „Chanel No. 5“ doesn’t smell sweet, it doesn’t smell like flowers, it isn’t forcing. You can wear it any time and anywhere. Chanel No. 5 was made for women, who liked Chanel’s fashion and wore it. The smell is as androgynous as Coco’s style.

Vocabulary
boarding-school – Internat
convent – Kloster
entree – Zugang
high society – oberste Gesellschaftsschicht
to contract – unter Vertag nehmen
to enable – ermöglichen
to support – unterstützen
travelling salesman – Handlungsreisender

By Marthe Rogier and Laura Intile

Sources

Edelmann, AmyHolman: The little black dress. New York: Simon & Schuster Editions, 1997.
Lehnert, Gertrud: Geschichte der Mode des 20. Jahrhunderts. Köln: Könemann, 2000.
O'Hara Callan, Geogina: Dictionary of Fashion and Fashion Designers. London: Thames and Hudson, 1998.

Timeline Fashion

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