Born into a family of pedlars and later sent to a religious orphanage after the death of her mother, Gabrielle Chanel transformed herself into history's most important fashion designer through want and plain willpower. Much of today's modern female fashion; little black dresses, cardigans, T-shirts and sportswear, flat shoes and outfits that fit a woman's body-come from Chanel’s mind. Chanel even changed how women smell: Chanel No. 5 was the first synthetic perfume, and is still today's most popular fragrance in the world. Coco Chanel changed the fashion world, beauty world, and the way women think about themselves and the industry.
Gabrielle Chanel was born in August of 1883 into a poorhouse of France. Chanel was one of five kids to her pedlar
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Eventually she felt she was ready to make a step towards her dream and open a store. Feeling comfortable and making a name for herself in the upper class social circle, Chanel sewed more, showing off her fashionable designs. She began to seek financial support from Baslan to open a store. Balsan would not entertain the idea. Then, 1914 Chanel met Arthur "Boy" Chapel, the love of her life. Chapel completely supported Chanel opening her own store. Chapel, who was from England, met Chanel when he was in France for a week – long fox hunt, and when he left to return, Chanel caught up to him at the train station, without a bag in hand. Balsan a little jealous did not want Chanel to leave with him. He even allowed Chanel to set up her shop in his Paris apartment to make her stay. Then, later with the success of her store and Chapels money, she opened a new shop at 21 Rue Cambon (Dow 92). Coco was emerging into the upper class. Her past was almost behind her and her dreams were in reach. “Her new simple and comfortable designs became popular, and success soon followed; she soon added clothing to her selection of hats. People were as fascinated by Chanel as they were by her designs, often coming into her shop just to see what she looked like. As she grew in fame, her illegitimate birth and lower class origins gradually disappeared, and Chanel became a full, if unique, member of Parisian society” (Dow 92). Chanel was in the place in her life she always dreamed of. She was on the verge of changing the fashion
In the article, “The Fashion Industry: Free to Be an Individual” by Hanna Berry, Berry discusses how for decades women have been told to use certain products and that if they used those products they would be beautiful. Women over the years have believed this idea and would purchase items that promised to make them prettier, thinner, smarter and even more loved. However, in reality it was never what they wore on their bodies that helped them be any of those things; but what it did help with was to empower women to become fearless and bold by what they chose to wear on their bodies as a form of expression.
...s far as the author is concern, the fact that CoCo Chanel left the Victorian ideas and lived a life of her own made other women admire her. According to the author, clothing design was her star that raised her above other women. It would be better if other women would emulate her character and moral beliefs that should attract other women.
As a teenager, Marie spent her time enjoying Versailles' and Paris' night life with a notorious clique and fondness of making fashion statements through extravagant couture and bold coiffures (“The Grand Dauphin”). ...
Eva’s fortunes changed, however, as in a couple of months she found herself a new job at the large department store, Milwards. Eva was delighted with her new job which made her the happiest she had been in a long time. “She was among pretty clothes.” The Inspectors line of inquiry turned to Mr. Birling’s daughter, Sheila. He wanted to try and establish her involvement in the death of Eva Smith. Sheila used Milwards store regularly. Sheila was out shopping for the perfect dress. After many fruitless visits to other stores Sheila finally decided to try Milwards. She demanded to try a particular dress on, against her mother’s advice. After trying it on she realized to her horror that ...
During her time in Moulins Chanel met and courted Etienne Balsan, an affluent textile hier. For three years she lived with him at his castle in Compiègne serving as his mistress. There Chanel lived a life of wealth and luxury that would not have been possible without Balsan. Later in her career it was those riches that inspired many of her iconic designs; her times spent on yachts lead her to incorporate those traditionally sailors looks of striped shirts and bell bottoms into her later
Hubert de Givenchy was born on February 20, 1927 in Beauvais, France. When he was young his father died, leaving him to be raised by his mother and grandfather. His wealthy family never approved of Givenchy’s love for fashion and instead wanted him to attend college and pursue a career in law. Eventually he attended college achieving his career in law but realized his love for fabrics and fashion was stronger (In influential fashion, 2002).
Werle, Simone. Fashionista A Century of Style Icons. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. Print.
Coco Chanel, born Gabrielle Bonhuer Chanel, on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France was an amazing woman who redefined fashion as we know it today. She was a clothing designer who revolutionized the fashion industry with her suits, little black dresses, and avant garde flare. Because of this quickly in her young life she became well know, and rose to be the fashion icon that she is today. From the timeless designs that are still popular to this day, and the sophisticated outfits that can be paired with great accessories Chanel has done it all. When it comes down to it though it was Coco Chanel’s philosophy that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it’s not luxury” that lead to her success. (“Coco Chanel”)
Chanel was put to work at the age of 20, working as a seamstress to a French textile heir and racehorse owner. Chanel got the nickname Coco from a song
Working at her father’s clothing shop, she became very knowledgeable about expensive textiles and embellishments, which were captured in her works later in career. She was able to capture the beauty and lavishness of fabrics in portraits of aristocratic women.
We might think of it as getting to know someone, but this really was allowing him to have a glimpse into her life. Not only would the young woman be likely to return to the store in the future, but the shop-owner would know that there was a particular product that she needed in order to care for her household.
Black appealed to Chanel with its practical nature, her attachment to the colour is said to be related to her moaning the death of her true love Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel. Some people say that her ‘desire to put the world into moaning for him’ led her to create the Little Black Dress. (Edelman 1997 p24).
The famous French designer Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, more commonly known as Coco Chanel, was born in Saumur France on August 19, 1883 (“Coco Chanel” Britannica par. 1). Chanel is known for not claiming any of her family, or anyone she had relations with before she was rich. She often made up different stories about her parents (Madsen 3). With how successful Coco was, it may be hard to believe that she was born and raised in poverty (“Coco Chanel.” Voguepedia par. 3). Chanel spent most of her childhood in an orphanage; due to the fact that her mother died and her father abandoned her (“Coco Chanel.” Britannica par. 2). In the orphanage, Chanel was raised by Catholic nuns. The nuns are the reason Chanel became as famous as she did for two reasons; they taught Chanel how to sew, and they also taught her to be confident in her work (“Coco Chanel.” Voguepedia par. 3). “Arrogance is in everything I do. It is in my gestures, the harshness of my voice, in the glow of my gaze, in my sinewy, tormented face” (“Coco Chanel.” Voguepedia par. 3). While she was still performing, Chanel got her distinctive nickname from soldier...
They liberated women from tight corsets through her innovative use of tweed and jersey influenced by men’s clothing. Chanel created many timeless designs including the “little black dress,” the classic Chanel suit and Chanel No. 5 perfume. Her designs have forever changed the fashion industry. Coco created a modern, functional, chic look for women which made them feel liberated in their own clothes. Her style is described it as “less is more.”
Fashion has been around ever since ancient times, since the time of the Romans, it survived the world wars and is yet today a business with rapid changes. Fashion started off as an art form, a way for the rich to show their social status with unique and innovative designs that only they could afford. It was a way to separate the social classes of the society. In this paper I will include the creators of haute couture, and how the following designers developed couture, as well as leading names in today’s ready-to-wear industry. The list is long, but I chose to focus on the three most important designers in the modern fashion industry.