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Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel Haute Couture Anarchist

Oct 10, 2008

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

Founder of the House of Chanel Founded: 1913

"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable."- Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

Born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel , "Coco's" first customers were princesses and duchesses, but she dressed them like secretaries and stenographers in faux pearls, trench coats, simple knits, turtleneck sweaters, and "little black dresses." By thumbing her nose at the haute couture styles of the 19th century, Coco Chanel freed women from the suffocating clutches of corsets and bustles and created a fashion revolution that would influence every designer that came after her. In fact, her signature Chanel suit - a collarless cardigan jacket trimmed in a braid with an elegantly straight skirt - is the single most copied women's fashion design of all time.

But perhaps this entrepreneurial dilettante's true genius lay in her shrewd recognition of the value of spinning off her name - a name that would remain one of the most famous and revered in the fashion world, even 50 years after her death.

Chanel's rags-to-riches story reads like a Harlequin romance novel. The illegitimate daughter of a poor French peddler, Albert Chanel, and a shop-girl, Jeanne Chanel, Gabrielle Chanel was born in 1883 in the Auvergne region of France. After her mother died and her father ran off, Chanel spent much of her early life in a convent. When she was 17, the nuns who ran the convent helped Chanel get a job as a seamstress. But the beautiful young woman secretly yearned to escape the humdrum life of provincial France and ran off to the garrison town of Moulins to become a cabaret singer.

While she never found stardom as a chanteuse, she did find Etienne Balsan, a rich young playboy who took her in as his "back-up" mistress and moved her to Paris. Always the rebel, Chanel refused to dress her part. Instead of the extravagant satin dresses that were de rigueur for coquettes of the day, Chanel wore plain, dark-colored dresses that marked the beginning of the fashion trend that would make her name famous throughout Europe.

To keep her busy while he attended to his other mistress, Balsan helped Chanel open her hat and dress shop, called Chanel Modes, located at 21 rue Cambon, Paris. That arrangement led to bigger and better things when Chanel left Balsan for his friend Arthur "Boy" Capel in 1913. A wealthy English businessman, Boy Capel, who is claimed to have been the true love of her life, provided the capital for Chanel to open two additional boutiques in the coastal towns of Deauville and Biarritz.

Chanel had always loved wearing men's clothing, which she borrowed freely from her lovers' closets, so it's no surprise that the inspiration for her early designs came from menswear. She even made many of her creations out of traditionally masculine materials, such as wool jersey fabric, which had never before been employed for women's clothing. Almost at once, her simple, yet elegant designs began to alter the way women of style looked and dressed. Urged by Chanel, women around the world over cut their hair and discarded their corsets in favor of loose-fitting sweaters, blazers, simple knit skirts, pea jackets, and Chanel's trademark "little black dress," which appeared in a sketch in an early edition of American Vogue. Chanel was so successful that she was able to pay back Capel in full, just four years after he set her up in business. Their affair continued, even after he married another woman, and did not end until Capel died in a car crash on his way to join Chanel for New Year's Eve in 1919.

Throughout the 1920s, Chanel's social, sexual, and professional progress continued, and her eminence as a fashion icon grew to the status of legend. Her growing fame made her one of the "in crowd." She befriended Igor Stravinsky, Picasso, and other members of Paris' exclusive art clique, and she designed costumes for Russian ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev and French filmmaker Jean Cocteau. (Known for her generosity to her friends, Chanel paid for Diaghilev's funeral when he died penniless in Venice.) She was also known for her longtime friendship with confidant Paul Morand.

During this time, Chanel experimented with many different styles, including Gypsy skirts, costume jewelry, and glittering evening wear made of crystal and jet beads. It was also during the '20s that Chanel introduced the product that would ensure her immortality. After the death of Capel, Chanel became the mistress of Russian Grand Duke Dmitri. Through him, she met Ernest Beaux, a perfumer whose father had worked for the Czar. Beaux was working on an essence for French perfume maker Francois Coty. According to legend, after sampling the scent, Chanel made a few suggestions, then convinced Beaux to give it to her.

In 1924, she released it as Chanel No 5 perfume , the first ever to bear a designer's name. Boldly advertised as "A very improper perfume for nicely brought-up ladies," the dark, leathery, distinctly masculine blend in its Art Deco bottle proved to be liquid gold.

Chanel's fame continued to grow throughout the 1930s, as Hollywood courted her services and she nearly married one of the richest men in Europe, the Duke of Westminster. (In later years, explaining why she chose not to marry the duke, Chanel replied, "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel.") Chanel's confidence, some say arrogance, was hard-won. She'd worked her way up from literally nothing to become one of the most popular fashion designers in the history of the fashion industry. But with the coming of World War II, her fame would turn into infamy.

During the war, Chanel's fashion house became mired in controversy concerning her intimate life. When the Nazis marched on Paris, Chanel responded by shutting down her business and becoming involved with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a Nazi officer 13 years her junior. In return, von Dincklage allowed Chanel to continue to reside in her beloved Ritz Hotel.

Believing her career as a designer was over, Chanel stayed out of the public eye for the next decade and a half, relying on the sales of her perfume as her main source of income. Then in 1954, at the age of 71, Chanel announced she was making a comeback.

Depending on the source, Chanel's return to the fashion world has been attributed to falling perfume sales, disgust at what she was seeing in the fashion world of the day, or simple boredom. Some say she became jealous of Christian Dior's growing fame and returned to fight for her fashion crown.

Regardless of why she returned, reactions to her return were decidedly mixed. In Europe, her comeback was initially deemed an utter failure. Fashion critics were less than impressed with Chanel's designs, which merely reiterated her message of casual chic clothes. But in New York, Americans couldn't buy her suits fast enough. Both Europe and the critics soon relented to Chanel's success in America.

Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Chanel once again found herself at the forefront of fashion by following the same simple yet radical philosophy with which she started: It is possible to be comfortable and chic at the same time. While it did not destroy Dior, by the time of her death in 1971, Chanel's remarkable comeback had earned her the title of "the best designer of her time."

The French fashion designer continued her legacy after her death by handing over the reins of her empire to designer Karl Lagerfeld. Following his death in 2019, the Chanel brand has been overseen by Virginie Viard. Chanel remains not only one of the oldest, but also one of the world's most prestigious fashion houses still active. A tribute to her unique vision, the designs of the woman who carried fashion into the 20th-century promise to remain just as popular well into the 21st century.

Alternately the toast and scourge of Paris, Coco Chanel's reputation never fully recovered from her affair with a Nazi intelligence officer during World War II. But according to one historian, Chanel may have been more of a war hero than a war criminal. Edmonde Charles-Roux, considered the most reliable of Chanel's biographers, has offered circumstantial but credible evidence that Chanel was sent by Walter Schellenberg, a ranking officer in German intelligence, on a peace mission to British prime minister Winston Churchill. Schellenberg was reportedly acting on behalf of Gestapo leader Heinrich Himmler, who attempted to offer secret peace initiatives to the Allies toward the end of the war.

After the liberation of France, French resistance forces arrested Chanel for her wartime activities. But Churchill, a close friend of one of Chanel's former lovers, the Duke of Westminster, is said to have intervened on her behalf. Chanel was released just 24 hours after her arrest and immediately left France for Switzerland.

Rumor Has It One of the enduring mysteries surrounding Coco Chanel is exactly how she got her nickname. Some of her biographers go along with the story that her father nicknamed her "Coco." Others contend that Chanel came by the name during her brief stint as a cabaret singer because her repertoire consisted of only two songs: "Ko ko ri Ko" and "Quiqu `a vu Coco?" But according to one source, Chanel herself once explained that the name was nothing more than a shortened version of "coquette," the French word for "kept woman."

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Biography Online

Coco Chanel Biography

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chane l (19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971)

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

– Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel was a leading French modernist designer, whose patterns of simplicity and style revolutionised women’s clothing. She was the only designer to be listed in the Time 100 most influential people of the Twentieth Century.

“Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are women inside the dresses. Most women dress for men and want to be admired. But they must also be able to move, to get into a car without bursting their seams! Clothes must have a natural shape. ”

She also created her famous Chanel No.5 scent, and this has become a lasting trademark.

The early life of Coco Chanel

Most sources suggest Gabrielle Chanel was born in 1883, though this was a closely guarded fact – with Coco not keen on revealing her birth date. Her mother was unmarried and her upbringing was marked by poverty and uncertainty. Aged 12, her mother died, and her father sent his three daughters including Gabrielle to a convent in Correze. Life in the religious institution was strict and frugal, but she did learn to sew and gain a rudimentary knowledge of creating clothes.

At the age of 18, she left the convent and moved to Moulins. She gained work as a seamstress and pursued a secondary career singing at cabaret events; however, her singing was not good enough to enable a stage career. Around 1908, Chanel began an affair with Étienne Balsan, a rich aristocrat. This enabled Chanel to become acquainted with many wealthy aristocrats and a different social circle.

Early Chanel Casual wear – 1917

In 1913, with financial aid from a lover Arthur Capel, Chanel opened a boutique selling fashionable clothes in Deauville. She made innovative use of jersey fabric – a manufactured cloth which proved useful during the shortages of the First World War. She quickly gained a rising reputation for being on the forefront of fashion, and her initial success encouraged her to start another shop in Biarritz which prospered as a venue for the wealthy during the First World War.

By 1919, Chanel was able to open her first boutique in Paris on 31 rue Cambon, at the heart of the most fashionable area of Paris.

“In 1919 I woke up famous. I’d never guessed it. If I’d known I was famous, I’d have stolen away and wept. I was stupid. I was supposed to be intelligent. I was sensitive and very dumb.”

– Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971), p. 95

In the post-war period, she felt the need for a revolution in women’s clothes. She began by liberating women from the bondage of the corset and encouraged a casual but elegant range of clothes.

“With a black sweater and 10 rows of pearls Chanel revolutionized fashion”

– Dior on Coco Chanel.

The 1920s were a significant period of liberation for women. It was a decade where women received the vote in several western countries. It was also a time when women were increasingly seen in professions and jobs, previously the reserve of men. Her fashion symbolised some of these social and political changes.

Significant items of clothing Coco Chanel helped pioneer included:

• the collarless cardigan jacket
• the bias cut dress – labelled a Ford by one critic because everyone had one.
• The shoe string shoulder strap.
• The floating evening scarf
• The wearing together of junk and real jewels.

Chanel in sailors outfit 1928

In 1938, she retired from the fashion business. However, 16 years later, she made a determined comeback after becoming fed up with seeing French fashion become dominated by men.

Her first post-war collection was not well received by the critics, but it proved immensely popular with the general public. Rich and famous women once again adopted the Chanel look, and she had shown her lasting influence on the industry.

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

She prided herself on her great taste, fashion and practicality combined with an awareness of what people wanted. It was this that made her the most recognisable name in world fashion.

Chanel 2.55

Chanel was an innovator in many aspects of fashion. She developed a new kind of jewellery which imitated much more expensive jewellery. It enabled wealthy people to keep their expensive jewellery at home.

In 1929, she developed the iconic Chanel bag. Like other Chanel creations, it combined beauty, fashion and practicality. The thin strap – enabling hands to be kept free. In 1948, she updated the design to become the Chanel 2.55

Coco Chanel during World War Two

At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Chanel closed her shops, stating that war was not a time for fashion. Three thousand of her workers lost their jobs – it was seen partly as retaliation for previous conflicts with workers, where her workers had sought better wages and conditions.

Other declassified information shows that in 1943/44 Chanel was to be used as a courier for the SS to pursue a separate peace deal with Churchill and the Allies. The plan never succeeded.

In September 1944, Chanel was interrogated by the Free French Purge Committee, the épuration. She was released due to lack of evidence . Some sources suggest that Winston Churchill directly intervened to make sure Chanel was released – Churchill was possibly worried that if sent to trial, Chanel would embarrass the government with her links to top-ranking Nazi’s and sympathisers in the British establishment.

In the climate of post-war interrogations, Chanel moved to Switzerland where she resided until 1954. The post-war period saw the emergence of new male designers, such as Christian Dior, who began to eclipse Chanel’s branding. However, in 1954, she returned to Paris and reopened her couture house. Her post-war label was successful in America and Britain, but less so in France. Many Frenchmen continued to hold her war record against her.

Chanel never married or had children. During her life, she had numerous relationships with influential men. This included poet Pierre Reverdy and the designer Paul Iribe.

Many biographers have said that Coco Chanel remains an enigma – a life full of contradiction and hard to ascertain her real motives.

“Despite the work of a dozen biographers … Chanel remains an enigma.”

David Downie, in Paris, Paris: Journey Into the City of Light‎ (2005)

She died on 10 January 1971, aged 87 at the Hotel Ritz, where she had resided for more than 30 years.

In the 1960s, a Broadway musical was made about her life starring Katharine Hepburn.

Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan . “Biography of Coco Chanel”, Oxford, UK. www.biographyonline.net 26 Oct. 2009. Updated 1st March 2018.

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Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel Biography

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (August 18, 1883 – January 10, 1971) Born in Saumur, France. French designer considered one of the most representative and influential figures in the fashion world of the twentieth century. The promoter of the garçonne-style renovator and vindicator, Coco Chanel became known as a designer in the 1910s, after buying and renovating a line of hats that she sold with the support of her lover Étienne Balsan. Upon gaining the recognition he opened numerous stores and began producing everything from shoes, suits, and dresses to perfumes and accessories. One of the greatest contributions that this revolutionary designer left was the liberation of the woman from the rigid and stoned wardrobe of the belle époque, thus reflecting the struggle for equality and women’s rights initiated by the women of the time.

Family and beginnings

Born into a humble family, Chanel had as parents the farmer Eugénie Jeanne Devolle and the seller Albert Chanel. Her childhood was marked by poverty, the alcoholism of her father and the illness of her mother, who left six orphaned children when she died in 1895. After the death of her mother, her father tried to leave the children to the care of their grandparents, but they refused, so he accommodated the three boys in farmers’ homes and the girls sent them to an orphanage. At twelve, Chanel was left in the care of the nuns of the monastery of Aubazine (Corrèze), where she was strictly educated, learning to sew, embroider and iron.

During the six years that she remained in the monastery, Chanel was trained as a seamstress and began to create a fictional story about her birth and her family, which she hated after abandonment; She spent most of her life denying them and hiding any record that existed about them, as her past embarrassed her. Anxious to start a new life, she left the orphanage and began working as a saleswoman in a sewing shop and singer in La Rotonde, an entertainment place for army men, where she performed songs such as Ko ko ri ko and Qui qu’a vu Coconut?. It was in this place that she started being called Coco , a name she would use later to make herself known as a designer.

At age 22 she fell madly in love with Étienne Balsan, a wealthy young man who ripped her out of provincial life and introduced her to the world of the upper class, parties, and leisure, however, Chanel wanted to work, so he spoke with Balsan to finance the opening of her first business, a millinery. Well, by then she had started selling her first hats to wealthy ladies and ladies on the ground floor of Balsan’s apartment, making himself known for her talent and particular informal and elegant style. In 1910, while Balsan was thinking about the project, Chanel ran away with Arthur Boy Capel, a polo player friend of Balsan, with whom she lived in Paris for a while. That same year she opened her first store in Paris, Chanel Modes , which was supported by Balsan and Capel.

The start of a dream

After opening her first store in Paris, Chanel began to gain recognition as a designer, reforming hats she bought at the Galeries Lafayette. Given the success achieved with the hats, Chanel decided to expand her business by designing her fashion line, which was well-received by her clients, who were mostly known from Balsan. In a short time, the fashion house attracted the attention of women of the time with its informal, elegant and revolutionary fashion, away from the bell-shaped and saturated style of the belle époque. The success of her designs led her to open more branches and hire more than 4000 workers, with whom she managed one of the biggest changes in the fashion world. With her stores on rue Cambo, Deauville, and Biarritz, Chanel imposed a new fashion style, between feminine and chic, which completely changed the way women of the time dressed, reflecting to some extent the change in the times and the struggle initiated by female activists in search of equal rights.

Being a model of her designs, Chanel became the image of the young and successful woman of the time: thin, stylized, with short hair, androgynous figure, and garçonne style. While her business was growing, Chanel was going through difficult moments in the love field, as she was abandoned by Capel, who married an aristocrat in 1919. At the end of World War I, Chanel settled in Hotel Ritz and focused entirely on her business, which prospered rapidly thanks to the dissemination of her designs and style in fashion magazines and newspapers around the world. The recognition she had gained allowed her to innovate and create new styles for the modern, elegant and free woman such as short skirts, female pants, Scottish tweed costume jewelry, round toe shoes a, the beach pajamas and her iconic bag with golden chains.

In 1929, the Wall Street crack forced Chanel to reduce the number of workers and the cost of their designs, however, this did not save the signature of the closure. Overwhelmed by loss, she moved to North America, where she began working designing clothes for big movie stars with the support of producer Samuel Goldwyn. After reopening the fashion house with the support of her new lover Duke Pierre Wertheimer and revolutionizing the world of perfumes with Parfums Chanel, the designer had to face the closing again due to the outbreak of World War II. She subsequently went into exile in Switzerland and stayed away from the world of fashion while attending the creation of the new Dior and Balenciaga look. She reopened her home in 1954, seventy-one years old and continued working on her designs even when her rheumatism and arthritis beset her. This prominent French designer died on January 10, 1971, in her bed at the Hotel Ritz, Paris.

Her funeral was attended by important figures such as designers Paco Rabanne, Balenciaga, and Yves Saint Laurent and the painter Salvador Dalí , among others. Three years after her death, Alain Wertheimer took command of the brand, skillfully leading the company and greatly promoting the sale of Chanel Number 5 and its different editions. Currently, the Wertheimer family are the owners of the company, which they have managed to keep up thanks to the work of great designers and the renewal of Coco Chanel’s style. Among the designers that marked the history of the company is Karl Lagerfeld, who was responsible for recovering the brightness and importance of the brand.

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Fernando Botero Biography

Fernando Botero Angulo (April 19, 1932 – September 15, 2023) was a sculptor, painter, muralist, and draftsman, hailing from Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. He was a Colombian artist known and celebrated for infusing a substantial volume to human and animal figures in his works.

Early Years and Beginnings

Fernando Botero was born into an affluent Paisa family , composed of his parents, David Botero and Flora Angulo, along with his older brother Juan David, who was four years his senior, and his younger brother, Rodrigo, who would be born four years after Fernando, in the same year that their father passed away. In 1938, he enrolled in primary school at the Ateneo Antioqueño and later entered the Bolivariana to continue his high school education. However, he was expelled from the institution due to an article he published in the newspaper El Colombiano about Picasso , as well as his drawings that were considered obscene. As a result, he graduated from high school at the Liceo of the University of Antioquia in 1950.

In parallel to his studies, Fernando attended a bullfighting school in La Macarena at the request of one of his uncles. However, due to an issue related to bullfighting, Botero left the bullring and embarked on a journey into painting. In 1948, he held his first exhibition in Medellín. Two years later, he traveled to Bogotá where he had two more exhibitions and had the opportunity to meet some intellectuals of the time. He then stayed at Isolina García’s boarding house in Tolú, which he paid for by painting a mural. Once again in Bogotá, he won the second prize at the IX National Artists Salon with his oil painting “Facing the Sea” .

“Ephemeral art is a lesser form of expression that cannot be compared to the concept of art conceived with the desire for perpetuity. What many people fail to understand is that Picasso is a traditional artist”- Fernando Botero

Due to the prize from the IX Salon and the sale of several of his works, Fernando Botero traveled to Spain in 1952 to enroll at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. There, he lived by selling drawings and paintings in the vicinity of the Prado Museum. In 1953, he went to Paris with filmmaker Ricardo Irrigarri, and later, they both traveled to Florence. Here, he entered the Academy of San Marco, where he was heavily influenced by Renaissance painters such as Piero della Francesca, Titian, and Paolo Uccello.

Career and Personal Life

In 1955, Botero returned to Colombia to hold an exhibition featuring several of his works created during his time in Europe, but it was met with a lukewarm reception from the public.

Woman With a Mirror / Foto:Luis García (Zaqarbal) / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Spain (CC BY-SA 3.0 ES)

In 1956, he married Gloria Zea, with whom he would later have three children: Fernando, Juan Carlos, and Lina. The couple traveled to Mexico City, where Fernando Botero was eager to see the works of Mexican muralists, but this experience left him disillusioned. Consequently, he began searching for his own artistic style, drawing influence from both the Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo and the Colombian artist Alejandro Obregón . In this quest, he started experimenting with volume, initially in still lifes, and gradually extending this approach to other elements.

In 1957, he successfully exhibited in New York, showcasing his new artistic sensibility. The following year, he returned to Bogotá, where he was appointed as a professor at the School of Fine Arts at the National University of Colombia . He presented his work “La Camera Degli Sposi” at the X Colombian Artists Salon , winning the first prize and becoming the country’s most prominent painter. This piece sparked some controversy as it was initially censored for being almost a parody of Andrea Mantegna’s “La Cámara de los Esposos”. However, it was later reinstated in the exhibition on the advice of Marta Traba. Subsequently, Fernando Botero exhibited his works in various spaces in the United States, where a businessman from Chicago purchased “La Camera Degli Sposi” .

“Fernando Botero and his works are the finest ambassadors of our country in this land of navigators and discoverers, of poets and fado singers”- Juan Manuel Santos

In 1960, Botero separated from Gloria Zea and traveled to New York. He led a modest life here as the New York art scene was primarily inclined towards abstract expressionism. Consequently, Botero was influenced by artists like Pollock, which led him to experiment with color, brushwork, and format, to the point of nearly abandoning his distinctive style characterized by the manipulation of volume. Aware of this, Botero returned to his usual style of flat colors and figurative representations.

Starting in 1962, he began a series of exhibitions in both Europe and the United States, as well as in Colombia. By 1970, the year his son Pedro was born to his second wife, Cecilia Zambrano, Fernando Botero had already become the world’s most sought-after sculptor. However, in 1974, his son Pedro tragically died in a traffic accident, leading to his second divorce and leaving significant marks on his artistic endeavors.

In 1978, the Colombian painter married Sophia Vari , a renowned Greek artist with whom he shared a significant part of his life, until sadly, she passed away in May 2023.

Since 1983, Fernando Botero has been exhibiting his works and donating them to various cities around the world. As a result, we can find his pieces in the streets of Medellín, Barcelona, Oviedo, Singapore, and Madrid, among others. In 2008, the Autonomous University of Nuevo León in Mexico conferred upon him an honorary Doctorate.

Renowned Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, died on September 15, 2023 , in Monaco at the age of 91 due to pneumonia . His artistic legacy will endure forever. In his hometown, seven days of mourning were declared.

Pedrito a Caballo, Fernando Botero (1975).

Top 10 Famous works by Fernando Botero

Some of the most recognized works by Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero:

• “Pedrito on Horseback” / “Pedrito a Caballo” (1974): This is an oil painting on canvas measuring 194.5 cm x 150.5 cm. For Botero, this work is his masterpiece and a refuge during a personal tragedy. The child depicted is Pedro, his son from his second marriage, who tragically passed away in an accident when he was young.
• “Mona Lisa at 12 Years Old” / “Mona lisa a los 12 años” (1978): This piece stands out as a unique version of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting, the Mona Lisa . Painted in oil on canvas and measuring 183 cm x 166 cm, Botero incorporates his characteristic style of voluptuous and rounded figures into this work, which has become one of his most distinctive pieces.
• “Woman’s Torso” / “Torso de Mujer” (1986): It is a majestic bronze sculpture that rises to an impressive height of approximately 2.48 meters. It is often affectionately referred to as “La Gorda” (“The Fat One”). This artwork finds its home in Parque de Berrío, located in the captivating city of Medellín.
• “Woman with Mirror” / “Mujer con Espejo” (1987): An imposing bronze sculpture weighing 1000 kg. It is located in Plaza de Colón, in the heart of Madrid, Spain. The artwork captivates the gaze with the portrayal of a woman peacefully lying face down on the ground, holding a mirror in her hands. Her expression reflects deep introspection and enigmatic melancholy.
• “The Orchestra” / “La Orquesta” (1991): In this oil on canvas artwork, measuring 200 cm x 172 cm, Botero presents a band of musicians with a singer, all immersed in a spirit of celebration. The artist aims to convey a sense of harmony and joy through his portrayal.
• “Woman Smoking” / “Mujer Fumando” (1994): It is a creation executed in watercolor, spanning dimensions of 122 cm x 99 cm. In this work, Maestro Botero skillfully captures the essence of a woman elegantly holding a cigarette between her fingers. His meticulous focus on voluptuous forms, posture, and the serene expression of the figure masterfully combine to emphasize the sensuality and profound intimacy of the moment captured in the artwork.
• “Man on Horseback” / “Hombre a Caballo” (1996): This bronze sculpture is one of the most iconic works in the artist’s career. It depicts a rider in a majestic and proud posture. Over the years, this imposing work has been exhibited in multiple cities around the world, solidifying its place as a prominent piece in the sculptor’s body of work.
• “The Horse” / “El Caballo” (1997): This iconic sculpture showcases a horse of majestic presence and a distinctive rounded form, sculpted in bronze and measuring approximately 3 meters in height. This masterpiece reflects Botero’s profound passion for horses while also serving as a powerful representation of the mythical Trojan Horse.
• “The Death of Pablo Escobar” / “La muerte de Pablo Escobar” (1999): This artwork, created using the oil on canvas technique, has dimensions of 58 cm x 38 cm. While not considered a masterpiece, this artistic piece represents one of the most significant moments in Colombia’s history. Fernando Botero captures, in his distinctive style, the moment of the death of the drug lord Pablo Escobar , addressing issues related to violence and criminality that have marked the country’s history. An interesting detail is that, although Pablo Escobar admired Fernando Botero’s art, it cannot be said that the admiration was mutual. The painter created two works depicting the death of the drug trafficker.
• “Boterosutra Series” / “Serie Boterosutra” (2011): This work by Botero is part of an erotic art collection called Boterosutra , marking a milestone in the history of Colombian art as the first artistic representation of sexual intimacy between lovers. This series comprises around 70 small-sized pieces created using various techniques, including colored drawings, watercolors, brushstrokes, and also black and white, all of which constitute one of the most contemporary works by the painter.

Ryan Reynolds

Biography of Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, Canada, and he is a well-known actor. When Ryan was born, his mother, Tammy, was a student and a salesperson, while his father, Jim, worked in wholesale food sales and also excelled as a semi-professional boxer. In addition, Ryan has three older siblings.

He studied in his hometown of Vancouver until 1994 when he decided to join a theater group as an extracurricular activity while attending Kwantlen College. However, his passion for acting became a vocation, and Ryan dropped out of college to devote all his time and energy to his acting career.

Debut as an actor

He quickly landed small roles in successful and memorable TV series such as “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “The X-Files”. In 1998, his big break came with the series “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place”, which ran until 2001 and catapulted him to fame. The show became very popular thanks to its great comedic content, an area where Reynolds demonstrated perfect skill, but this was not the first time that Ryan had made a name for himself in a Hollywood comedy, as he had already been in “Life During Wartime” in 1997.

After working in several minor jobs, Ryan got his first major role as a protagonist in the crazy “Van Wilder – Animal Party”, where he played a college party organizer. The success of the film opened doors for him to work alongside Michael Douglas in “Till Death Do Us Part”, support Wesley Snipes in “Blade Trinity” or star in the horror movie “The Amityville Horror”. However, at this stage of his career, Ryan stood out mainly as a protagonist in comedies such as “Just Friends”, “Waiting” and “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”. This led him to want to leave his comedic side behind, getting involved in different projects such as the thriller “Smokin’ Aces”, the independent film “Adventureland” and the action film “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. Later on, he also participated in romantic films such as “The Proposal” and “Definitely, Maybe”. However, recognition of his acting ability did not come until Ryan was nominated for a Goya Award for his demanding role in “Buried”. It is worth noting that he also brought to life the comic book hero “Green Lantern” and the renowned “Deadpool”.

Contracts, curiosities

Prestigious brands like Hugo Boss have not been oblivious to Ryan Reynolds’ popularity, charisma, and good looks, offering him contracts to be the face of one of their fragrances : Boss Bottled Night, a fragrance that, through great advertising, managed to convey an irresistible seductive effect.

Two curiosities can be highlighted from his work: first, the nearly 10 kilos of solid muscle he gained thanks to rigorous physical training to bring Hannibal King to life in “Blade: Trinity”; and second, his appearance on the animated TV series Zeroman, in which he lent his voice to the character Ty Cheese. In addition, like many Hollywood stars, Ryan Reynolds has an eccentricity outside the world of entertainment: a great passion for motorcycles , of which he owns three collector’s items, one of which was designed exclusively for him and is none other than a Harley Davidson.

Romantic relationships

Regarding his personal life, Ryan Reynolds was in a romantic relationship with singer Alanis Morissette from 2002 to 2007. The couple got engaged in 2004, but in July 2006, People magazine reported that they had separated, although neither of them officially confirmed the news. Shortly after, in February 2007, they decided to end their engagement by mutual agreement. In May 2008, Reynolds announced his engagement to actress Scarlett Johansson , and they got married on September 27 of the same year. However, in December 2010, the couple announced in a statement to People magazine that they had decided to end their marriage.

So, on September 9, 2012, he married the actress Blake Lively in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. In October 2014, they announced that they were expecting their first child, and in December of that same year, Ryan Reynolds and his wife Blake Lively became parents with the birth of their daughter: Ines. Later, on April 14, 2016, his wife’s second pregnancy was confirmed, and on September 30, 2016, he became a father for the second time to a boy named James.

Biography of Tom Hanks

Thomas Jeffrey Hanks, born July 9, 1956 in Concord, California, United States, is an actor known as Tom Hanks. Hanks was raised by his father Amos Mefford Hanks, who worked as a cook of English food, and his mother Janet Marylyn, a nurse. He was raised with the values of the Catholic and Mormon religion. During his time at Skyline High School in Oakland, he attended theater classes with his best friend. During his adolescence, Hanks demonstrated his acting talent and won the Best Theater Actor award at his institute. Later, he enrolled in Chabot College in Hayward, California and two years later did a exchange at California State University, Sacramento.

1981 – Debut as an actor

In 1979, the Hanks family moved to New York, which gave Tom the opportunity to debut as a supporting actor in the horror film “Sabe que estás sola” in 1981. Two years later, he landed a lead role in another film. Additionally, he did his first television work in the comedy series “Bosom Buddies.” Later, he decided to move to Los Angeles to participate in “Despedida de soltero” in 1984, although the film was not very successful, it allowed him to be discovered by Ron Howard, who later contacted him to offer a role in “Splash” in 1984.

Since then, Tom starred in several comedy films such as “Amigos del alma” (1980), “Esta casa es una ruina” (1986), “Big” (1988), “No matarás… al vecino” (1989), “Socios y sabuesos” (1989), and “Joe contra el volcán” (1990). His father was always very important in his career, constantly encouraging him to keep fighting for his dream. On several occasions, he helped him to get small roles. He also supported his participation in the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Tom had already made some appearances in series like “Vacaciones en el mar”, “Happy Days”, “Taxi”, or “Family Ties”.

“The King of Comedy”

After a small role in the horror film “He Knows You’re Alone” (1980) directed by Armand Mastroianni, he starred in several comedies that typecast him in comedic roles. His charming personality and natural talent contributed to his growing popularity. Definitely his consecration came in the eighties, he was cataloged as the king of comedy . Thanks to “Big” (1988), he achieved great success for his performance, receiving the Los Angeles Critics Award and an Oscar nomination . Although he had a bit of a downfall after that, he regained momentum as a disillusioned former baseball pitcher who trains a women’s team in “A League of Their Own” (1992).

Tom considered it appropriate to change direction and tackle other stories, to move away from comedy a little. So, he eagerly sought more intense themes where he could showcase his versatility. With his work in “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (1989), directed by Brian de Palma, he attempted to take the first step to break away from light comedies, but the result was not as expected. However, his career took off again with his portrayal of an AIDS-stricken lawyer in “Philadelphia” (1992), directed by Jonathan Demme, an intense character that was quite a challenge. His effort was rewarded with an Oscar. He renewed his commercial success with “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993), directed by Nora Ephron, where he teamed up with Meg Ryan, and worked with her again in “You’ve Got Mail” (1998).

Some of his most acclaimed performances

In the mid-90s, Hanks established himself as one of Hollywood’s brightest stars. It’s worth mentioning that his career enjoyed significant success. For his role in Robert Zemeckis’ “ Forrest Gump ” (1994), this has been one of the most striking films of the decade, he was again deserving of an Oscar , a prize that increased, turning him into one of the best-paid actors in Hollywood. With the comedy “The Wonders” (1996), he made his directorial debut.

Later, he did the same in the field of production with the TV series “From the Earth to the Moon,” a work that took him several years. Hanks had the lead role in the feature film “Saving Private Ryan” (1997), directed by Steven Spielberg , with this role he was nominated for the Academy Award, although the film received five Oscars. In 2000, he worked with Robert Zemeckis again in the film “Cast Away,” a film in which his solo performance was praised, for which he received an Oscar nomination.

Between 2003 and 2004, he repeated his collaboration with Spielberg in “Catch Me If You Can” and also in “The Terminal.” In 2006, he starred in the hit film “The Da Vinci Code,” the cinematic version of Dan Brown’s controversial work. Starting in 2014, Hanks’ films have grossed over 4.2 billion in countries such as the United States and Canada, and over 8.4 billion in the rest of the world, he is definitely an actor who ensures great success for films. His fame is such that the asteroid (12818) Tomhanks bears his name.

Marriages, children.

The actor has had several marriages throughout his life. His first marriage was to Samantha Lewes in 1978, from which two children were born: Colin Hanks in 1977 and Elisabeth Ann in 1982. However, the couple divorced in 1985. Later, in 1988, he married actress and producer Rita Wilson , with whom he had two additional children: Chester Marlon in 1991 and Truman Theodore in 1996. In recent years, the actor has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which requires a strict diet and daily care to maintain his health.

Marc Anthony

Biography of Marc Anthony

Marc Anthony (born September 16, 1968) is an American salsa singer and actor , born in New York. His real name is Marco Antonio Muñiz Rivera . From a young age, he has been involved in music, growing up with rock and rhythm & blues. His parents, Felipe Muñiz and Guillermina Rivera, discovered his passion and musical ability when he was a child. During his teenage years, to earn money, he began singing at bars and nightclubs , and quickly gained popularity. He was contacted by one of the members of the Latin Rascals group, and their producer Louie Vega invited him to record several albums with the Atlantic Records label.

Beginnings as a singer

One of Marc Anthony’s most successful musical products was the album “Rebel”, which achieved some success on the disco music charts. In 1992, his career in the salsa world took off when the famous Tito Puente took him as an opening act for a concert at Madison Square Garden. A year later, he recorded a salsa version of a song by Juan Gabriel that received excellent reviews and great popularity in the musical circles of New York. Soon, Marc Anthony appeared in several television productions and began to receive offers for concerts. After a few years, he was recognized as the new “king of salsa”. During the 1990s, his lyrics occupied the top position in Latin America and also in the United States.

The new “musical phenomenon”

Marc Anthony became a massively successful musical phenomenon , comparable to the success of Héctor Lavoe. At the same time, he continued to develop his acting career, appearing in films such as “Bringing out the Dead” directed by Martin Scorsese; “Big Night” directed by Stanley Tucci; “Hackers,” and “The Capeman,” a Broadway musical directed by singer and songwriter Paul Simon. He also performed the main theme of the soundtrack of “The Mask of Zorro” (1998), in which Antonio Banderas was the lead actor.

Third salsa album “Against the Stream”

That same year, he worked on the production of his third salsa album: “Contra la Corriente,” undoubtedly many salsa critics and aficionados affirm that it was the best album of his career, for which he received a Grammy for Best Latin-Tropical Album. In 1999, he released the album “Marc Anthony” to the market, this album undoubtedly demonstrates a new stage in his musical career, as it combined salsa with pop and also featured songs in English, in order to reach and conquer the Anglo-Saxon audience and market.

The first single, “I Need to Know,” put him in the top positions of the North American charts: it remained in the Top 10 of the Billboard for eleven weeks and eight more weeks in the Top 40. He also released the Spanish version, titled “Dímelo.” With this song, he won the Grammy for Best Latin Song of the Year and was number one on the Latin Billboard chart. He quickly released the second single, “You Sang to Me,” repeating the success of the previous one and selling over two million copies of the album.

Starting the new millennium, he released a greatest hits salsa album titled “Desde el principio.” After that, Marc Anthony went on a extensive tour that took him through the United States. All magazines and press talked about his triumphant concert at Madison Square Garden. Then he was in Canada and Central America. At that time, Marc Anthony received the admiration of his fans when he helped with his charitable work for the victims of Hurricane George, in sum, he founded a foundation that bears his name.

International tours

In 2011, he started the Dos Mundos Tour, with the company of Alejandro Fernández , a concert across Latin America. The following year, he was in Colombia at the Manacacías Summer Festival, many people from different parts of the country traveled to attend his concert. He had a significant participation in the 53rd International Song Festival of Viña del Mar, Chile, where he sang the song “¿Y cómo es él?” from his album “Iconos”. He received the highest distinction.

On March 3, 2012, Marc returned to Uruguay after 17 years and gave his performance at the Charrúa Stadium in Montevideo with an attendance of 25,000 spectators. In the GIGANT3S TOUR, he performed in several North American cities alongside Chayanne and Marco Antonio Solís . In 2013, he released his album 3.0. In 2014, he was the big winner of four of the five awards for which he was nominated at the Premios Lo Nuestro. Additionally, his career was recognized as one of the most successful Latin music artists. In 2016, he released a song called “Deja que te bese” with the collaboration of Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz, the song has over 50 million views on Youtube.

In September 2016, he carried out his “Marc Anthony Live” tour which included 5 dates at Radio City Music Hall. His private life has been somewhat controversial and has been exposed to various comments. He had his first daughter in 1994, Arianna Rosado-Muñiz, a product of his relationship with a former police officer from New York. In 2000 he married for the first time to Dayanara Torres, with whom he had two children. He later helped Jennifer Lopez in the production of the song “Sway” for the soundtrack of the movie Shall We Dance?. They then fell in love and after only one month of relationship, they got engaged in March 2004.

The couple had twins and Jennifer sold the exclusive photos of the children to People Magazine. However, after a few years, the couple decided to end their marriage on April 9, 2012. It is said that everything started when Jennifer Lopez met dancer Casper Smart and began a relationship with him two months after her separation from Marc. Later, Marc started a relationship with Venezuelan model Shannon de Lima, whom he married in 2014. Despite this, his relationship with Jennifer, the mother of his children, is harmonious, and he even participated in her song “Olvídame y pega la vuelta” in 2016. Two years earlier, the Puerto Rican singer made an impact with the hit song “Flor Pálida”.

On January 28, 2023, he married Nadia Ferreira in an incredible wedding surrounded by stars from film, music, and sports. The ceremony took place at the Perez Art Museum in Miami, with David Beckham as the best man.

  Ver esta publicación en Instagram   Una publicación compartida por Nadia Ferreira (@nadiatferreira)

Paul McCartney

Biography of Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney (born June 18, 1942) is a singer. He was born in Liverpool, England. His mother, Mary Patricia, was a nurse, while his father, James McCartney, was a volunteer firefighter. During Paul’s birth, his father was not present as he was fighting in the Battle of England during World War II. Paul grew up in a religious and strict environment, with his mother Catholic and his father Protestant, but later became agnostic. After returning from the war, his father devoted himself to selling cleaning products and, in his free time, played in bars.

Death of his mother

That’s why his son developed a deep love for music. He stood out in school for his intelligence and discipline and studied at Liverpool Institute secondary school, a good free secondary school. In 1954, he met George Harrison, with whom he quickly formed a strong friendship. At the time, McCartney’s mother was the one who kept the household and for work reasons they moved to Allerton, where they lived until 1964. On October 31, 1956, when McCartney was 14 years old, his mother died from a stroke.

After his mother’s death, McCartney was devastated. It took some time for him to return to normal. H is father saw music as a refuge to help his son feel better, so he took him to listen to the Jim Mac’s Jazz Band, where his father played trumpet or piano. He also gave him a trumpet, but when rock and roll became popular, he chose an acoustic guitar. The first song he composed was “I Lost My Little Girl” on that guitar, a Zenith. He also composed “When I’m Sixty-Four” on the home piano.

1957 – Met John Lennon

He met Lennon on July 6th, 1957. McCartney joined The Quarrymen, a school band led by Lennon, in 1958 as the lead guitarist. The band mixed rock and roll and skiffle, a popular music style, with jazz and blues. After several name changes, the band decided to call themselves The Beatles in August 1960 and recruited drummer Pete Best for their move to Hamburg. In 1961, one of its members, Sutcliffe, left the band and McCartney was forced to take over as bassist. They recorded as a backing band for English singer Tony Sheridan on the single My Bonnie.

1963 – “Beatlemania”

They managed to attract the attention of Brian Epstein, who became their manager in January 1962 and a key figure in their later success. With their first hit, “Love Me Do” in 1963, the “Beatlemania” began. John Lennon and Paul wrote a large number of songs together, but later their egos collided and they preferred to write separately. In 1970, The Beatles disbanded. But Paul continued his successful career with songs that reached number one. He recorded his first solo LP, “McCartney”, with songs very different from those that Lennon would write, with commercial melodies for varied tastes.

1980 – Paul McCartney Guinness Records

In 1980, he entered the Guinness Book of Records as the highest-selling songwriter in the world. His theme Yesterday , one of the most celebrated by The Beatles , has around 2,500 versions in the most diverse musical styles. Some of his solo hits are: Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, Live and Let Die for the James Bond film received the Oscar for best musical theme; Coming Up from his solo album Paul McCartney II. He joined George Martin and Ringo Starr in 1982 for the recording of Tug of War. On Press to play, his next album, was recorded with Eric Stewart.

Awards, arrest, record.

Winner of 18 Grammy Awards, including two Lifetime Achievement Grammy Awards (one with the Beatles and another as a solo artist). He is a vegetarian and an animal rights advocate. He was arrested for marijuana possession in Tokyo in 1980 and was briefly in jail. He participated in the “Live Aid” concert against hunger in Ethiopia in 1985. I n 1990, he achieved the record for the largest attendance at a concert with 184,000 people in Rio de Janeiro. Since 1997 he is Sir Paul McCartney, invested as a knight by Queen Elizabeth II.

2013 – Other awards, marriages.

On February 10, 2013, he received a Grammy for “Best Traditional Pop Album” for his album “Kisses On The Bottom”. Later, he received a special award from PRS for Music in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the composition of his most famous song, “ Yesterday “. These songs, as well as “And I Love Her,” “You Will Not See Me,” and “I’m Looking Through You,” were written inspired by his relationship with British actress Jane Asher. After five years of engagement, the couple broke up due to his infidelity with Francie Schwartz. He married Linda Eastman on March 12, 1969, and together they formed the musical group Wings after the dissolution of the Beatles . In 1999, he presented his collection of poems entitled “Blackbird Singing: Poems and Lyrics (1965-1999)”. After the death of his wife, McCartney experienced deep sadness.

In 2002, Paul McCartney married former model Heather Mills in an Irish castle. After a long legal battle in the London Supreme Court, in 2008 Mills was authorized to collect one fifth of the 250 million dollars she had demanded from McCartney for their four-year marriage. In 2011, McCartney married Nancy Shevell in a civil ceremony in London on October 9th of that year.

Relevant aspects of his life and musical career

• With 60 gold records and the sale of over 100 million albums and singles as a solo artist and with The Beatles, McCartney is recognized as one of the most successful composers and artists of all time.
• As a solo artist in 1999 and as a member of The Beatles in 1988, he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
• As a solo artist and with The Beatles, he has been recognized with twenty-one Grammy Awards.
• 32 of the songs that McCartney has written or co-written have reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
• As of 2014, he had sold over 15 million certified units by the RIAA in the United States.
• In 1997, McCartney was elevated to the rank of knight for his services to music.
• In 1965, McCartney, Lennon, Harrison and Starr were named members of the Order of the British Empire .
• He has been married three times and is the father of five children.
• He has participated in projects to help international charities related to issues such as animal rights, seal hunting, landmine cleaning, vegetarianism, poverty and musical education.
• He ranks 11th on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Singers.
• He ranks first on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Artists as a member of The Beatles.
• He ranks third on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Bassists.
• Only surpassed by Bob Dylan , he ranks second on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Songwriters.

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Coco Chanel

By Jo Craven

So great is Coco Chanel's legacy that fans make pilgrimages to her Paris apartment (although she also lived in the Paris Ritz for 30 years), which is preserved as she left it and endlessly referenced for style - as is every image of her and every tiny thing she ever designed. From her use of monochrome to her oversized 'costume' pearls and cuffs, everything is still sublimely, continuously referenced. As she herself once said: "Fashion fades, only style remains the same."

• Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was born in 1883 and died in 1971 • She created a new look for women in the 20th century, creating clothes that were primarily comfortable. A Chanel suit of 1923 or handbag is still seen as a landmark purchase for women of increasingly younger ages • The Chanel No.5 scent is the best selling in the world • The interlocking Cs of Coco Chanel remain one of the ultimate brand insignia • Since 1983, Chanel has been designed by Karl Lagerfeld • The building where her apartment is in Paris was bought by Chanel in 1920, and still houses the ground-floor shop, the haute couture workrooms in the attic (where 100 seamstresses still work entirely by hand), and what is now Karl Lagerfeld's study

Coco Chanel's bobbed hair, bright red lips and outspoken manner also broke the mould. This smoking, outspoken woman never married - although she had relations with the English industrialist Arthur "Boy" Capel - who lent her the money to buy Rue Cambon - Igor Stravinsky and the second Duke of Westminster Hugh "Bendor" Grosvenor, the richest man in Europe. Keira Knightley followed Kate Moss as the new face of Coco Mademoiselle in 2007. The brand could not be more alive with watches, beauty, fragrance, womenswear and new stores. In 2009 a biopic film based on her life titled 'Coco before Chanel' was released. Audrey Tatou was given the lead-role and follows as she goes from orphan to Haute Couture designer.

By Jeanne Ballion

By Emma Spedding

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Coco Chanel, The Life and Times of an Icon

In the first of this two-part series, Chloe Govan explores Coco Chanel’s journey from an orphanage childhood of abject poverty to the founder of a classic, multimillion-euro fashion brand.

From a poorhouse in Saumur, to a Catholic orphanage in the Dordogne to a nightclub stage in Moulins, Coco Chanel’s life did not truly take off until she moved to the fashion capital of Paris. Here, she said goodbye to poverty and obscurity and proceeded to build the fashion brand that would place her among the wealthiest women in the world.

Undoubtedly, she suffered dark periods. Abandoned after the death of her mother by an indifferent and philandering father, she found herself in an orphanage run by cold-hearted nuns. She had days of clutching her rumbling stomach, on the brink of starvation, before she’d even entered her teens. She then went from convent to cabaret when she became a circus singer and performer for sometimes abusive crowds. Then later, of course, came the trauma of the Second World War, when the swastika was flaunted atop the Eiffel Tower and France was under siege – an era when Chanel felt compelled to consort with her country’s arch enemies in order to survive.

ONE OF THE BOYS

Yet sandwiched between these harrowing scenes were the golden years of a fashion icon in Paris. It began when her performances as a cabaret chanteuse caught the eye of Étienne Balsan, a wealthy textile business heir. In 1907 he whisked the 23-year-old to Château de Royallieu, his country abode near Paris – later an internment camp before being destroyed altogether in WWII – and the pair began an affair. He agreed to finance a millinery business venture and soon she’d commandeered his bachelor pad in the capital, turning one floor into a hat boutique.

In those days – unusually for a budding fashionista – Chanel defied convention and turned gender norms and “oppressive” expectations of elegance upside down. With an unapologetically short bob, a cigarette perpetually hanging from the corner of her mouth and masculine clothes designed purely for comfort, she catapulted her way into high society as “one of the boys”. Playing polo alongside Balsan and his male friends – then an unthinkable pursuit for a woman – Chanel cared not for traditional gender roles. Not only did she often dress exactly like her male lover, but she even modelled her hats on the polo helmets he donned.

Chanel in 1920 outside of her apartment in Paris IMAGES © WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Later, she romanced his friend, British aristocrat Arthur Capel, and left Balsan to be with him. Balsan continued to bankroll and care for her, but she had fallen in love with another man – and he was equally mesmerised. In an era when many women were tied down with tightly strung corsets and weighty petticoats, it was refreshing for Capel to date a woman who dressed casually, doubling as a companion for sport or nights out on the town. She even wore men’s shirts and ties beside him. During the pair’s almost decade-long relationship, Capel financed further shops for her, including in Paris, Deauville and Biarritz. She was broken-hearted when the aristocrat, obliged to marry into a family of similar standing, left her for Lady Diana Wyndham. Although she outwardly appeared to move on, even flaunting relationships with Russian royalty, she never got over the “only” love of her life and, after his death in a car accident in 1919, she was inconsolable. Despite her grief, in a stroke of bittersweet synchronicity, this was the moment when her career truly took off. “Either I die as well,” she resolved, “or I finish what we started together.”

When it came to her fashion collections, Chanel read the rulebook, only to tear it up and break every single tradition in it. A pair of plain black trousers might seem ordinary, but au contraire – in the context of the era, they were edgy, rebellious and revolutionary. Since 1800, women had been banned by law from wearing trousers and, unbelievably, had to ask permission from the local police before they could step outside “dressing like men”. By the early 1900s a loophole was introduced, but only if “holding a bicycle handlebar or the reins of a horse” – so-called ‘masculine’ pursuits which were strongly discouraged in women anyway. Yet as a modern woman about town, Chanel needed to exercise in Paris, climb with ease into the gondolas of the Venice canals, or canter on her horse around the Loire Valley – and skirts would simply have got in the way.

Inventor of the timeless little black dress IMAGES © WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

On more glamorous occasions, she favoured the ‘Little Black Dress’, introduced in the 1920s. Sneering at “ghastly” bright colours, she set about creating elegant basics in satin, velvet, wool and chenille. Ironically for a luxurious high-fashion brand, she took creative influence almost exclusively from the poverty-stricken convent she’d been raised in and its atmosphere of austerity. The nuns there only ever wore black or white, and this would inspire the now legendary all-black and monochromatic styles with which Chanel’s name became synonymous.

She also adopted the intertwined ‘CC’ – now the brand’s trademark logo – after being inspired by a design on the chapel windows at Aubazine Abbey, where she’d lived.

She made clothes from jersey, which had previously been solely used for men’s underwear. She chose it partly for practicality and comfort, but also because it was so cheap to buy in bulk. She had feminist motivations, transforming women’s fashion by providing practical clothing for freedom of movement.

However, some believe she was also taking revenge on the upper classes by humorously placing a high price tag on traditionally cheap fabrics. At the least, she probably chuckled wryly at how the wealthy were coveting out of choice the low-cost items the poor used out of necessity. Suddenly the masses were lusting after clothes inspired by styles, materials and principles acquired at the orphanage and poorhouse. And Chanel was to Paris what the budget dish bouillabaisse was to Marseille – arguably poorer quality offcuts at an affordable cost.

Her fashion was witty, political and would continue to soar in popularity over the years until tragedy struck – World War II…

From France Today magazine

IMAGES © WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, Chanel

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Gabrielle “coco” chanel (1883–1971) and the house of chanel.

• House of Chanel

Evening dress

Attributed to House of Chanel

Evening ensemble

Cocktail ensemble

Jessa Krick The Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

Early Success Among the key designers who made a bold and lasting impression on women’s fashion in the twentieth century, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) deserves special recognition. Born in Saumur, in the Loire Valley of France, Chanel survived an impoverished childhood and strict convent education. The difficulties of her early life inspired her to pursue a radically different lifestyle, first on the stage, where she acquired the nickname “Coco,” and then as a milliner.

With the help of one of the male admirers who would provide key financial assistance and social connections over the course of her career, Chanel opened her first shop in Paris in 1913, followed by another in the resort town of Deauville. Selling hats and a limited line of garments, Chanel’s shops developed a dedicated clientele who quickly made her practical sportswear a great success. Much of Chanel’s clothing was made of jersey, a choice of fabric both unusual and inspired. Until the designer began to work with it, jersey was more commonly used for men’s underwear. With her financial situation precarious in the early years of her design career, Chanel purchased jersey primarily for its low cost. The qualities of the fabric, however, ensured that the designer would continue to use it long after her business became profitable. The fabric draped well and suited Chanel’s designs, which were simple, practical, and often inspired by menswear, especially the uniforms prevalent when World War I broke out in 1914.

As her fashion-conscious customers fled Paris at the beginning of the war, Chanel’s boutiques in Deauville and Biarritz flourished. Chanel’s uncluttered styles, with their boxy lines and shortened skirts, allowed women to leave their corsets behind and freed them for the practical activities made necessary by the war. Elements of these early designs became hallmarks of the Chanel look ( 1975.7 ; 1984.28a–c ; 1976.29.7 ) Chanel took great pride as a woman in designing for other women, and by 1919, at the age of thirty-two, she enjoyed huge success, with clients around the world. Soon after, she relocated her couture house in Paris to 31 rue Cambon, which remains the center of operations for the House of Chanel today.

A Style Icon Chanel’s own lifestyle fueled her ideas of how modern women everywhere should look, act, and dress. Her own slim boyish figure and cropped hair became an ideal, as did her tanned skin, active lifestyle, and financial independence. Throughout her career, Chanel succeeded in packaging and marketing her own personal attitudes and style, making her a key arbiter of women’s taste throughout the twentieth century.

The designer’s passionate interests inspired her fashions. Her apartment and her clothing followed her favorite color palette, shades of beige, black, and white ( 1978.165.16a,b ; 1984.30 ). Elements from her art collection and theatrical interests likewise provided themes for her collections ( C.I.65.47.2a,b ). When Chanel attended a masquerade ball dressed as a figure from a Watteau painting , she later reworked the costume into a woman’s suit ( C.I.54.16.1a,b ). She hired Russian émigrés from her circle of friends to work in her embroidery workshop, creating designs to her exacting specifications. Known for a relentless drive for perfection, whether in design or fit, and strong opinions in all matters of taste, Chanel backed her clothing with the authority of her personal conviction.

Chanel continued to create successful looks for women through the 1920s and ’30s. In 1926, American Vogue likened Chanel’s “little black dress” to the Ford, alluding to its almost universal popularity as a fashion basic. In fact, the concept of the dress suitable for day and evening did become both a staple for Chanel throughout subsequent seasons and a classic piece of twentieth-century womenswear ( 1984.28a–c ). The designer also used colorful feminine printed chiffons in her daywear designs ( 1984.31a-c ). Evening ensembles followed the long slim line for which the designer was known, but also incorporated tulle, lace, and decorative elements that soften and romanticize the overall look of the garment ( 1978.165.16a,b ; C.I.46.4.7a-c ).

The Closure and the Comeback Despite her great success, Chanel closed the doors of her salon in 1939, when France declared war on Germany. Other couturiers left the country, but Chanel endured the war in Paris, her future uncertain. Following the end of the hostilities and resolution of some personal difficulties, Chanel found she could not idly stand by and observe the early success of Christian Dior , whose “New Look” prevailed in the postwar period. While many admired Dior’s celebration of femininity, with full skirts and nipped-in waists, Chanel felt his designs were neither modern nor suitable for the liberated women who had survived another war by taking on active roles in society. Just as she had following World War I, Chanel set out to rescue and reinvigorate women’s fashion.

The designer faced challenges in this endeavor: securing finances, assembling a new staff, seeking out new fabrics, competing at age seventy against a new generation of designers. Chanel’s comeback collection of couture debuted in 1953 (1976.370.2a-c). Although it was not a critical success, the designer persevered. Within three seasons, Chanel was enjoying newfound respect. She updated her classic looks, reworking the classic tweed designs until wealthy women and celebrities returned to the showroom in droves. The Chanel suit became a status symbol for a new generation, made of solid or tweed fabric, with its slim skirt and collarless jacket trimmed in braid, gold buttons, patch pockets, and—sewn into the hem—a gold-colored chain ensuring it hung properly from the shoulders. Chanel also reintroduced her handbags, jewelry, and shoes with great success in subsequent seasons.

The Legacy Continues Following Chanel’s death in 1971, several of her assistants designed the couture and ready-to-wear lines until Karl Lagerfeld (born 1938) took over the haute couture design in 1983 and ready-to-wear in 1984. Lagerfeld, like Chanel at the time of her comeback, looked to past designs for the secret to his success. His designs incorporated signature Chanel details, tweed fabrics, colors, gold chains, quilt-stitched leather, and the linked “CC” logo. In later collections, Lagerfeld became more irreverent, deconstructing some of the ladylike polish of Chanel’s 1960s looks. Playing with the fact that Chanel’s favorite jersey fabric had been used for men’s underwear at the turn of the twentieth century, Lagerfeld even incorporated men’s T-shirts and briefs into his designs ( 1993.104.2a–j ). Nonetheless, Lagerfeld’s ability to continuously mine the Chanel archive for inspiration testifies to the importance of Gabrielle Chanel’s contributions to women’s fashion in the twentieth century.

Krick, Jessa. “Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) and the House of Chanel.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chnl/hd_chnl.htm (October 2004)

Additional Essays by Jessa Krick

• Krick, Jessa. “ Charles Frederick Worth (1825–1895) and the House of Worth .” (October 2004)
• Krick, Jessa. “ Shoes in The Costume Institute .” (October 2004)

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Artist or Maker

• Chanel, Gabrielle "Coco"
• Dior, Christian
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The complicated legacy of Coco Chanel

Evil Genius with Russell Kane delves into the biographies of five polarising figures from the past in order to ask the question, 'Are they Evil or Genius?' In each episode, Russell is joined by a panel of three celebrity guests to interrogate the reputation of a famous figure, including Coco Chanel. The show airs Mondays at 9pm on Sky HISTORY and is available on demand.

Coco Chanel: an icon in the fashion world, a woman credited with changing fashion forever, whose personal life was forever marred by tragedy and latterly, controversy and accusations of espionage. This is her biography.

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

Her early life.

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 in a charity hospital, the second daughter of Eugénie Jeanne Devolle (the hospital’s laundrywoman) and Henri-Albert Chanel (a street vendor). The pair only married a year after Chanel’s birth.

Her childhood was one marred by poverty and neglect, something that began at birth when her name was misspelt as Chasnel on her birth certificate—her father was absent and her mother too ill to attend the baby’s registering.

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The mistake went uncorrected to her death as changing it would have meant revealing she was born in a poor house. The error made it difficult to trace her origins and Chanel herself in later years would often obfuscate the facts around her biography, choosing a more glamorous narrative.

The couple had six children together, three girls and three boys, the youngest of whom died at six months.

Chanel’s mother, too, died suddenly when she was only 11 and she lost her father soon after, when Henri-Charles abandoned his family. His sons were sent to work as labourers and his daughters to an orphanage, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Chanel stayed there for the rest of her childhood.

While they were at the orphanage, Chanel’s older sister, Julia, became pregnant with a son, André Palasse. When she died, aged 28 (her sister always claimed it was suicide), Chanel adopted her, then, six-year-old nephew and raised him.

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Stage aspirations.

Chanel left the orphanage at age 18. She started working as a seamstress, but her evenings were spent on the stage at a café, singing cabaret. She had two songs in her arsenal: 'Ko Ko Ri Ko' and ‘Qui qu'a vu Coco’, which, it’s rumoured, is where she got her nickname, ‘Coco’. Chanel spent some time pursuing a career on the stage, even moving to Vichy in 1906, but struggling to get work, she abandoned her dream.

It was around this time she met a cavalry officer, Étienne de Balsan, whose father was a textile entrepreneur. The two began a relationship. She lived with him and he in turn introduced her to his social circles and showered her with gifts. It’s rumoured that the nephew she brought up following her sister’s death was their child.

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During this time, Chanel realised her talents as a milliner and Balsan financed her work. There was a growing interest in her designs, and she began selling her hats to her friends.

After six years together, Chanel ended her relationship with Balsan to pursue his friend, Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel.

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Early designs.

Like Balsan, Capel also came from a wealthy family and, once again, the pair mixed a romantic relationship with the professional. In 1914, she opened her first shop, through money given to her by Capel. A showroom quickly followed, in 1916. Her emphasis on sporty silhouettes and belief that luxury should be comfortable was a radical departure from the corseted forms that had previously defined women’s fashion. Her revolutionary approach was further helped when in 1916, a textile industrialist, Rodier, exclusively gave her a jersey fabric. It cemented Chanel’s innovative design aesthetic.

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In total, Chanel and Capel were together for nine years, although he remained unfaithful to her, even marrying someone else (Lady Diana Wyndham in 1918). This didn’t end their relationship, though and they continued to see each other until his sudden death in a car crash in 1919. Chanel said she never recovered and after Capel’s death, her romantic connections were limited to a series of affairs.

Professionally, though, she continued to thrive throughout the 1920s.

Chanel’s focus on clean lines and simple silhouettes led to one of her most iconic creations: the little black dress. The signature Chanel suit came, too. Created in tweed, gabardine, and Chanel’s signature jersey, they offered tailoring without constriction. It was also in the 1920s that Chanel released her first perfume.

Next came a focus on jewellery and accessories. In 1929, she released her first bag. It was the basis of what would later become the now-iconic Chanel 2.55 bag, said to be the most copied bag in the world.

At the beginning of the 1930s, Chanel travelled to Hollywood to design on-screen costumes. But the designs didn’t translate, and she left.

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The second world war.

Her success came to a pause with World War II. In 1939, Chanel was forced to close her shops, and the Nazis took over Paris in 1940.

Personally, however, she remained in the same high society circles she was now accustomed to. Her antisemitic views were already public, and she soon began a relationship with a German officer in military intelligence, Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage. Through him, she was able to move into the Ritz in Paris. She was also able to ensure the release of her nephew from the German Stalag where he was imprisoned in in 1940.

In return, Chanel began to work for the German military, becoming a registered agent in the intelligence service, trading on her connections and standing through Europe to obtain information that would help the Nazi party.

Chanel was outed in 1944 when the French reclaimed Paris. Although she was questioned, she was released and fled to Switzerland. After the war had ended, she appeared in court but admitted only to her connections and the release of her nephew. She ultimately never saw any repercussions for her actions.

The final years

In 1954, Chanel made a return to fashion, relaunching the 2.55 bag (named after the date it was released), as well as the iconic knitted suit. A retinue of celebrity fans of her work, including Grace Kelly and Jackie O, ensured her status and reputation.

She continued as a celebrated designer and celebrity until her death, at the Ritz, in 1971.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, coco chanel: building an empire – chanel in three acts.

Agents of Innovation

ISBN : 978-1-83797-013-1 , eISBN : 978-1-83797-012-4

Publication date: 13 December 2023

Shortly before the Second World War, a woman who had never accepted her orphan status, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, nicknamed ‘Little Coco’ by her father and known as ‘Coco’ to her relatives, became the first women in history to build a world-class industrial empire. By 1935, Coco, a fashion designer and industry captain, was employing more than 4,000 workers and had sold more than 28,000 dresses, tailored jackets and women's suits. Born into a poor family and raised in an orphanage, she enjoyed an intense social life in Paris in the 1920s, rubbing shoulders with artists, creators and the rising stars of her time.

Thanks to her entrepreneurial skills, she was able to innovate in her methods and in her trendsetting approach to fashion design and promotion. Coco Chanel was committed and creative, had the soul of an entrepreneur and went on to become a world leader in a brand new sector combining fashion, accessories and perfumes that she would help shape. By the end of her life, she had redefined French elegance and revolutionized the way people dressed.

• Entrepreneur
• New venture creation
• Twenties (Roaring Twenties)

Richer, F. and Filion, L.J. (2023), "Coco Chanel: Building an Empire – Chanel in Three Acts", Agents of Innovation , Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 5-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83797-012-420231001

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Copyright © 2024 Francine Richer and Louis Jacques Filion. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited

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15 Things You Didn't Know About Coco Chanel

By jd rinne | feb 12, 2019.

Tweed jackets, the little black dress, menswear as womenswear: Coco Chanel is responsible for many of the innovations that still dictate women's fashion today. But there's a lot more to the designer than her gold-chained handbags, signature scent, and witty remarks —like her literal rags-to-riches story. Here are 15 things you might not know about the famed French fashion icon Coco Chanel.

1. Coco Chanel learned to sew at an orphanage.

Born Gabrielle Chanel on August 19, 1883, the future fashion designer came from humble beginnings. After her mother died when Chanel was around 12, her peddler father put her and her two sisters in a convent-run orphanage. The nuns there taught her to sew , and the stark black and white of their habits began to inform her design aesthetic.

2. Her nickname, Coco, most likely came from her brief time as a singer.

After leaving the orphanage at age 18, she worked in a tailor's shop during the day, and eventually began singing at French caf'concs , a sort of early-version cabaret show featuring bawdy verses sung in urban working class bars and restaurants. Chanel and her aunt Adrienne (who was just over a year older than Gabrielle) used these gigs to make extra money and flirt with the military personnel that were stationed in Moulins, France. The story goes that two of the songs Chanel was known to sing were " Ko Ko Ri Ko " and " Qui qu'a vu Coco dans l'Trocadéro ?" ("Who's seen Coco at the Trocadéro?"), and the crowd would call for encores by shouting "Coco! Coco!" Of course, Coco is also a term of endearment for a child (and Chanel preferred telling of how her father would call her that), and it can also be a diminutive of cocotte , a French term for a kept woman—which she would soon become.

3. Chanel was a licensed milliner.

After her brief singing career, Chanel became a licensed milliner and opened a hat shop in 1910 called Chanel Modes, at 21 Rue Cambon in Paris. The venture was funded by Etienne Balsan, a wealthy heir to a textile empire whom she'd met when he was a young officer in Moulins; according to Lisa Chaney's biography Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life , Balsan "invited her to live with him as his mistress," and Coco readily accepted.

At her hat shop, Chanel got a lucky break when Gabrielle Dorziat, a famous French actress of the time, became a fan of Chanel's hats and sparked a trend. Later in Chanel's life, a hat became a signature accessory—photographer Douglas Kirkland, who spent three weeks documenting the designer in 1962, never saw her remove it.

4. She designed that famous Chanel logo herself.

Still emblazoned on handbag, earrings, necklaces, and dozens of other products, the famous interlocking "Cs" of the Chanel logo were created by the designer and first appeared circa 1924 on bottles for her signature fragrance, Chanel No. 5. The logo hasn't changed since. Theories on her inspiration vary, but many point to Catherine de Medici's royal insignia , which Chanel may have seen on a visit to a royal residence. Alternately, the same insignia is featured on the walls of Château de Crémat in Nice where, according to legend, Chanel had attended parties, and the two Cs obviously worked well with her name and branding.

Another possibility was that was an homage to English aristocrat and polo player Arthur "Boy" Capel, Chanel's longtime lover and the man whom she considered the love of her life; he died in an automobile accident just before Christmas 1919, leaving Coco devastated. It's speculated that the Cs could have been for Capel & Chanel—her way of keeping his influence and memory alive.

5. Her fragrance, Chanel No. 5, might have been the result of a lab mistake.

The story behind Chanel's iconic perfume is full of twists and turns. In the early 1920s, Chanel worked with perfumer Ernest Beaux to create the scent. Reportedly, Chanel liked Beaux's fifth sample , leading to the now-famous name. (Also, five was said to be her lucky number.) But the scent, with notes of jasmine, rose, sandalwood, and vanilla, might have been the result of a laboratory mistake. The formula had an unusually high dose of aldehyde in it—a synthetic component that made the scent " sparkle ." The fragrance and its groundbreaking, minimalist bottle design would go on to become one of the best-selling and most recognized perfumes in the world.

6. Chanel sparked a decades-long court case over her perfume.

In a business deal to launch Chanel No. 5 in department stores in 1924, Chanel kept her name on the bottle, but got only 10 percent of the profits. Businessman Pierre Wertheimer agreed to make the perfume in mass quantities, taking a 70 percent cut (Théophile Bader, the founder of famed Paris department store Galeries Lafayette, got the other 20 percent because he brokered the deal). Chanel waged war in the courts for years to try to sweeten her deal—in fact, the Wertheimer business eventually had a lawyer whose only job was to deal with Chanel.

7. Chanel was allegedly a Nazi agent.

After Chanel's death in 1971, classified documents started to emerge that revealed the full extent of her dealings with the Nazis during WWII. Her decade-long affair with Hans Günther Von Dincklage, a German intelligence officer, was well known (she stayed ensconced at the Ritz during much of the Nazi occupation of Paris), but in his 2011 book Sleeping With the Enemy , journalist Hal Vaughan revealed that Chanel was involved enough with the Nazi agenda that she was referred to as Abwehr Agent F-7124—codename " Westminster ." "There were legions of women of courage and derring-do throughout Europe, working hard to outwit the Nazis," The Washington Post 's book review stated. "Chanel was not among them."

When the war was over, Chanel exiled herself to Switzerland before returning to Paris in 1954 to restart her fashion house. For their part, Chanel (the company) contested the claims in Vaughn's book, arguing that she had many close Jewish friends before and after the war and that her role during the Nazi occupation may have been more nuanced.

8. Chanel even enlisted Nazi help in the Chanel No. 5 fight.

During World War II, Chanel leveraged her Nazi connections and tried to use Aryan laws to push Pierre Wertheimer and his brother—who were Jewish—out of her business. Thanks to some last-minute business dealings that involved selling their majority stake to an Aryan businessman during the war, the Wertheimers were able to hold on to their investment and regain full ownership after the war. Incredibly, the Wertheimers eventually financed Chanel's return the fashion industry in the 1950s. The notoriously tight-lipped Wertheimer family refuses to give interviews or speak on their dealings or relationship with Coco Chanel, but they still own the Chanel brand to this day; it's worth $8 billion by recent estimates.

9. Winston Churchill was a friend of Chanel's.

Chanel had well-placed friends everywhere, including politicians. She met Winston Churchill in the mid-1920s through her then-lover, the Duke of Westminster. The duke—one of wealthiest men in the world and one with considerable influence—was close friends with Churchill (who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer), and the future prime minister was a regular at his home. Once, in a letter home , Churchill wrote that "the famous [Coco Chanel] turned up and I took great fancy to her—a most capable and agreeable woman … She hunted vigorously all day, motored to Paris after dinner, and today is engaged in passing and improving dresses on endless streams of mannequins. … She does it all with her own fingers, pinning, cutting, looping. Some have to be altered ten times." More than a decade later, during World War II, this old friendship was used by the Nazis to try to form an alliance with England.

10. Although Chanel had many affairs, she never married.

The only thing Chanel was more famous for than her fashions might be her storied affairs. Her many dalliances included a short-lived one with Pablo Picasso (Lisa Chaney's biography Coco Chanel, An Intimate Life describes its end as "Picasso [was] always quick to demand sexual and emotional subservience from his women, and Gabrielle being in many ways just as intense and formidable a character as he was, this affair could only have been a brief one"), the Duke of Westminster, the grandson of a Russian Tsar, and the composer Igor Stravinsky. When Stravinsky took to reworking his famed The Rite of Spring for a new staging with a Paris ballet company in 1920, Chanel was one of the primary patrons .

11. The Chanel bag made it acceptable for women to wear shoulder bags.

In the 1950s, it was de rigueur for women of status to carry their purse in their hands. But in 1955, Chanel changed all that when she introduced the 2.55 Chanel Shoulder Bag (named for when it launched, in February 1955). The sleek bag featured quilted leather and a signature gold chain for the strap, making it glamorous for women to wear a bag on their shoulder.

12. Chanel made jersey fabric cool.

When Chanel first starting designing in the early 20th century, women's fashion relied on the corset, which made for tight, fitted, and uncomfortable styles. Chanel liberated the silhouette by using jersey —a fabric then primarily used for men's underwear. Jersey was inexpensive and it draped well, making it perfect for Chanel's early designs of simple dresses.

13. Chanel's also credited with popularizing the little black dress.

Perhaps fashion's most enduring wardrobe staple—the one that can be reinvented and reworn a thousand different ways—was another one-time revolutionary idea that Chanel brought to the masses: the little black dress. Vogue coined the term in 1926, printing a Chanel design and comparing it to the Ford Model T in terms of universality (they called the dress "the frock that all the world will wear"). Although the LBD is considered a basic must-have now, at the time it was revolutionary because black was considered a color for those mourning.

14. Chanel even made getting a tan fashionable.

The LBD, striped shirts, perfume, menswear as womenswear: Everything Chanel did started a trend. And that includes suntans. In the early 1920s, when visibly spending too much time in the sun was still considered lowbrow, Chanel got a little too bronzed while out on a Mediterranean cruise with the Duke of Westminster. The resulting photos of her arrival in Cannes are often credited as setting off a desire for that sun-touched glow (which she soon capitalized on by creating the first line of tanning lotions for women).

15. Katharine Hepburn played Chanel in a Broadway musical.

, a 1969 musical based on Chanel's life, had a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner (best known for the blockbuster My Fair Lady ). Though Katharine Hepburn was a veteran stage actress, the four-time Oscar winner was not particularly known for her singing voice—and this was to be her one and only musical. The show only had 329 performances on Broadway, but thanks to YouTube, the company's performance at the 1970 Tony Awards is still available—it was nominated for seven Tonys that night and won two. Even if the musical didn't have staying power, at least the thought of one pioneer of the modern, trouser-wearing woman playing another feels very—how would you say?— je ne sais quoi .

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Coco Chanel Biography: The Woman Who Changed The World Of Fashion

Coco Chanel

In this success story, we will share the biography of Coco Chanel, a very talented and creative fashion designer who changed the world of fashion. The story will captivate you from the first lines. Enjoy reading Coco Chanel’s life story on AstrumPeople.

Coco Chanel (1883 – 1971) is an outstanding French fashion designer and creator of the fashion empire of the XX century. She is the founder of The House of Chanel. Her net worth is $15 billion. Her real name is Gabrielle Chanel.

Table of Contents

Early Life, Career, and First Love

We know very little about Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel’s childhood. Gabrielle was born on August 19, 1883, in Saumur, France, to the family of fair trader Albert Chanel and his girlfriend Eugénie Jeanne Devolle. He married Jeanne Devolle several years after Coco Chanel was born. They did not have a permanent place to live. If things went well, they allowed themselves to have a primitive farm and settled down in some old abandoned shack, which people tried to get around. Her mother was a laundrywoman in the charity hospital owned by the Sisters of Providence, and her father was a street vendor who sold haberdashery goods on the street market.

The legendary Mademoiselle Chanel had been shy of her miserable childhood all her life. She was afraid reporters could find out about her extramarital origins, her mother’s death from bronchitis at 31, or her father, who gave up having passed Gabrielle in a shelter at 12. Coco Chanel even invented her story that when her mother died, her father sailed for America, and she lived in a cozy and clean house with two strict aunts, who in reality did not exist.

Having learned sewing arts during her six years at Aubazine shelter, Coco Chanel was able to find a job as a seamstress. When not plying her trade with a needle and thread, she was singing in a cabaret “La Rotonde” frequented by cavalry officers. There, Gabrielle acquired her nickname, “Coco.” It is derived from the famous song “Qui Qu’a Vu Coco?” that she used to sing.

In her early twenties, Coco Chanel concluded that money was the main thing in life. In 1905, when a young and wealthy bourgeois Étienne Balsan came into her life, Coco Chanel hung around his neck. In her eyes, he was the real man with money and could spend it quickly. Coco took full advantage of her new life when she settled in her lover’s castle. She was lying in bed until noon, drinking coffee with milk and reading cheap novels. However, Étienne did not think Coco was the woman who was worth spending big money on.

In the spring of 1908, Coco Chanel met with a friend of Balsan, Captain Arthur Edward “Boy” Capel CBE, an English polo player with straight black hair and a dull complexion. Arthur Capel advised Coco to open a vending hat shop and promised financial support. Later, he would become her business partner and personal life partner.

However, she was obliged to Étienne Balsan, who helped to start her career. Étienne wanted to involve his bothered girlfriend in any matter under the pretext of evicting her from his castle. Coco settled in his bachelor apartment on the Malesherbes Boulevard in Paris, where he usually had fun with his girlfriends. It was the place where Coco began making and selling her hats. Interestingly, all the former mistresses of Étienne became the first clients of Mademoiselle Chanel. They also expanded the range of her clients to their friends. Things went very well, and soon, this bachelor apartment became too small.

The First Glory of Chanel

At the end of 1910, Coco Chanel finally broke up with Étienne Balsan and began to live with Captain “Boy” Capel. In 1910, Coco became a licensed modiste (hat maker) and opened a Chanel Modes boutique on 21 Rue Cambon in Paris. Soon, the street became known worldwide and had been linked to her name for half a century.

In 1913, Coco Chanel opened her boutique in Deauville, quickly attracting regular clients. The creator of the famous hats dreamt of developing her line of women’s clothing. At this time, she had no right to make a ‘real’ women’s dress, as she could be brought to justice for illegal competition because she was not a licensed dressmaker. Coco found the solution. She started sewing jersey fabric dresses, which had only been used for men’s underwear, and earned her first capital. Coco Chanel’s close family members have always been supportive. One was her sister, Antoinette Chanel, and her aunt, Adrienne Chanel. Both of the girls Coco recruited to model Chanel’s designs and advertise Chanel’s fashion clothes.

All of her dress discoveries were born that way. While designing, Coco did not excel herself but simplified details. She did not draw her sketches of clothing and did not sew them. Usually, Coco threw a cloth on a mannequin, then cut and slaughtered a shapeless mass of material until the desired silhouette was manifested.

Chanel quickly became the world fashion designer, turning over the spotlight. She created a style that had been previously unthinkable for women – tracksuits. She dared to appear in a sailor suit and tight skirt on the beaches of seaside resorts. The style produced by The House of Chanel was simple, practical, and elegant. However, in 1914, the World War I began. There was chaos and the ‘feast during the plague’ in France. Coco continued to work vigorously, presenting new demands for clothing and generating new ideas: Chanel’s first female skinny suit. A couple of years later, she sewed a redingote without a belt and ornaments, removing the bust and curves with almost masculine stringency. She created an understated waist, dress shirt, pants for women, and beach pajamas.

Even though The House of Chanel introduced the fashion women’s pants, Coco wore them rarely, as she believed a woman would never look in the pants as good as a man would. However, she liked a short man’s hairstyle. The reason is simple – short hair is easier to take care of. Once, Coco cut her hair and proudly walked out into the world, explaining that everything in her house caught fire and burned her curls. Therefore, in 1917, a trend for short men’s hairstyles among women was prevalent. Before the Coco Chanel’s action, women had to be longhaired.

In 1919, when her beloved Arthur “Boy” Capel died in a car accident, Coco Chanel said: “Either I die as well. Or I finish what we started together.” If this tragedy had not happened in Chanel’s life, she would have never started experimenting with black clothes. Some people say that she brought black color clothes into vogue to make all women in France mourn for her beloved. Coco was not allowed to mourn officially, as she was not married to Arthur Capel.

The Birth of Chanel No. 5 Perfume

In the summer of the 1920s, Coco Chanel opened a big fashion house in Biarritz. Later, she met with a Russian émigré, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and they both felt a mutual passion for each other. The romance was short but fruitful. Coco learned many new ideas from her exotic lover. How could she forget his stories about the treasures of the Muscovite tsar or the luxury of ecclesiastical vestments?

Moreover, parts of the Russian folk costume shirts with original embroidery were in her new collection after this meeting. The most noteworthy is that during the road tour in France, Dmitri Pavlovich introduced Coco to a Russian perfumer, Ernest Beaux, when they stopped in Grasse town. Ernest’s father had worked for many years at the imperial court.

The meeting was fruitful for both of them. After a year of hard work and long-term experiments, Ernest placed ten samples before Coco and divided them into two groups. Ernest Beaux numbered from one through five in the first half and the second one – from twenty through twenty-four. Coco chose sample No. 5; when Beaux asked her why, Coco Chanel replied: “I always launch my collection on the 5th day of the 5th month, so the number 5 seems to bring me luck – therefore, I will name it No. 5”.

The marketing policy of The House Of Chanel was targeted at celebrities. This choice was not accidental: in the list of clients who wore Chanel No. 5 perfume were the most beautiful women of the century. Chanel No. 5 was a favorite perfume of Jacqueline Kennedy. However, unwittingly, Marilyn Monroe invaluably promoted “Chanel.” Moreover, she did it free. In the early 1950s, in one of the interviews, Marilyn said that all she wore in bed was a few drops of Chanel No. 5 perfume. A few days later, her statement skyrocketed Chanel’s No. 5 perfume sales.

Designers spilled the golden liquid into a crystal bottle with a modest rectangular label that looked to them like a peculiar solution; usually, perfume bottles had intricate shapes. As a result, the world had a ‘perfume for women that smelt like a woman.’ It was the first synthetic perfume with eighty components that did not repeat the smell of a particular flower, as it had been earlier. The success experienced by its creators – Chanel No. 5 is still the best-selling perfume in the world.

The Little Black Dress

By the early 20s, the world almost ended up fighting for gender inequality. Women had a legal right to work, vote, and have abortions, but at the same time, they lost their face. Fashion was going through a situation where, due to the sad egalitarianism, women’s clothing began to lose its sexiness and sophistication.

Coco Chanel reached this point and successfully combined incredible details in her models with revolutionary innovations and defiant femininity. She invented the famous “little black dress,” which seemed, at first glance, artless, rustic garb, and impersonal. This decisive step brought the 44-year-old designer worldwide fame and made her find a symbol of elegance, luxury, and good taste.

The first models of the dresses were made of forgotten fluid crepe marocain, knee-length, straight cut with narrow sleeves to the wrists. An incredibly accurate, adjusted, and revolutionary skirt-cutting length distinguished them from others. By the way, Coco Chanel believed that the bottom of the dress did not have to be lifted above the knee because not all women could boast flawless beauty of this part of the body. More expensive cocktail dresses had V-shaped notches, and evening dresses had a profound neckline at the back. It was supposed to wear long strings of pearls or colored jewelry, boas, little jackets, and tiny hats with such types of dresses.

The little black dress quickly became a cult clothing and acquired a status symbol. It had often been copied, redesigned, and retailored. Companies and fashion houses still produce this dress around the world. The popularity of this dress is incredible. New interpretations of this dress appear nowadays, so we can confidently say that this dress will never go out of style.

While exploring Coco Chanel’s biography, we learned that in her early 20s, she got involved in jewelry design. The idea to mix crystals and natural stones in a single product came not only to her. However, she was the first to give life to this idea. Coco actively communicated with the world of Parisian bohemia. She visited ballet performances and met with the artist Pablo Picasso, the famous ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, the composer Igor Stravinsky, the poet Pierre Reverdy, and the playwright Jean Cocteau. Many famous people sought to communicate with the well-known fashion designer out of curiosity and were surprised to find Coco an intelligent, witty, and original-thinking woman. Once, Picasso called her the most sensible woman in the world.

Coco’s appearance and unpredictable behavior attracted men, as did her extraordinary personal qualities, strong character, and erratic behavior. Coco was irresistibly flirty, extremely sharp, straightforward, and even cynical. She looked purposeful, confident, contented, and a successful woman.

Love Affair with Hugh Grosvenor

Later on, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, GCVO, DSO (familiarly “Bendor”), came into the life of Coco Chanel. He was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world . Their love affair had lasted for 14 years. This unusually long love affair led Coco into a different environment – the world of British aristocracy.

From 1926 to 1930, the Duke of Westminster was her most welcomed guest. She believed all along that their love would be crowned with marriage. Coco saw the long-awaited final refuge in each house where the Duke took her. They often left England and traveled on his yachts. Usually, Hugh Grosvenor invited about sixty guests to his estate on weekends. Among them were Winston Churchill, his wife, and close friends of the Duke. They had dinners with live musical accompaniment; sometimes, he even invited a theater from London.

Sir Winston Churchill did not hide his enthusiastic impressions, he admired Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel and considered her of the most intelligent, nice and very strong women, with whom he has ever had to deal with.

The well-known politician and statesman, not in vain, called attention to these personality traits of Coco Chanel, such as determination, willpower, and desire for independence: they brought her to international success.

If she had given birth to the heir of the Duke, she would have become his wife. Before 1928, while his passion was strong, he was willing to marry her, too. Coco was 46 when she began visiting doctors, but it was too late – nature opposed her dream. The Duke of Westminster suffered no less than his beloved woman but was forced to marry another.

Coco Chanel’s head went back to work. The success accompanied her in all endeavors. She was at the zenith of her fame, and despite her age (she was already over 50), men found her very attractive.

A Ten-Year Pause in Fashion Career

In 1939, despite the enormous success of her fashion clothing, Coco was forced to close all her shops and the House of Fashion due to World War II. Many designers left the country, but Coco left in Paris. In September 1944, Coco Chanel was arrested on the Committee on Public Morals initiative. The reason was the love affair of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel with Walther Friedrich Schellenberg, German SS-Brigadeführer. A few hours after her detention, she was released. Shortly after that, Coco Chanel moved to Switzerland, where she has lived for almost ten years.

Coco had a love affair with Walther Friedrich Schellenberg, German SS-Brigadeführer, during the WW II.

After World War II, designers appeared like mushrooms after the rain in postwar France. One of them, a young fashion designer, Christian Dior, commented about Coco Chanel’s design: “With a black pullover and ten rows of pearls, she revolutionized fashion.”

Return to the Fashion World

After the war, Christian Dior dressed up women like flowers. He dressed them in crinoline, tightened their waist, and filled numerous thigh folds. Coco Chanel laughed at this ‘hyper-femininity’: “Look how ridiculous these women are, wearing clothes by a man who doesn’t know women, never had one, and dreams of being one.”

When Coco Chanel returned from Switzerland to Paris, it was full of a generation of fashionistas convinced that “Chanel” is a brand of perfumes. She rented a small two-room apartment at her favorite hotel, the Ritz in Paris.

Coco got involved in the fashion industry again. When Marlene Dietrich asked Coco Chanel why she needed it, she explained that she was dying of boredom.

The first reaction of experts and the press to a new collection of Coco Chanel was shock and outrage – she could not offer anything new! Alas, the critics failed to understand that this was precisely her secret: nothing new, only an eternal, timeless elegance. Coco took revenge for a year. The collection that failed miserably in Paris was slightly revised and shown overseas. Americans gave her an ovation. There was a triumph of the little black dress in the United States. It was an honor for a new generation of fashionable women to wear Chanel clothes. Coco became a tycoon, managing the most prominent fashion house in the fashion industry.

During these years, she created the Pink Chanel suit. On November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his wife wore a double-breasted, strawberry pink and navy trim collared Chanel wool suit. In the 1960s, the Pink Chanel suit became a symbol of her husband’s assassination and one of the iconic items of fashion. The suit has often been shamelessly copied to the last braid, to the last golden button and stitching. Nevertheless, the name of Coco Chanel is more than a suit.

Once Coco Chanel said: “Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”

The world has recognized her as the only trendsetter of refined elegance. Chanel’s style concept is firmly anchored in the fashion industry. Chanel’s style means that a suit should be functional and comfortable. If a Chanel suit has buttons, they certainly should be buttoned. A Chanel suit is usually worn with low-heeled-toe cross-strap shoes. Chanel designed a skirt with pockets below the knee where a businesswoman could put a cigarette case. By the way, the idea of wearing a bag over the shoulder also belongs to Mademoiselle Coco.

Coco Chanel maintained an incredible performance until old age. New fashion ideas came to her mind even in her sleep. The secret to the success of this fantastic brand lies in its roots. From the beginning, The House of Chanel sold the art of living, not only clothing for women.

Coco Chanel could not die during a working time. She could not let this happen. On January 10, 1971, she died quietly in the hotel room of Ritz with a window view of the luxuriously decorated The House of Chanel . As of 2014, Chanel’s revenue reached $7.43 billion. When Coco Chanel died, only three dresses were found in her wardrobe. However, they were “very stylish attires,” as Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel would have said. We hope you have enjoyed exploring a complete biography of Coco Chanel – the Woman who changed the world of fashion.

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