Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel was born with the name
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on the 19th of August 1883 to the 10th
of January 1971 and she was born in France. Her mother was a laundry woman called
Jeanne Devolle. Her father called Albert Chanel sold on the street. Chanel had
4 other siblings. At eighteen years old Chanel went to live at a boarding
house. While being employed as a seamstress, she sang in cafes and concerts.
This is where she got the name ‘Coco’, a name from a song she sang in a cafe.
Her fashion career started from the
opening of an military shop in 1910. She worked with Jersey fabric and created
the ’bias cut’ to make clothes which were more comfortable to wear. As her
success in fashion bloomed, she opened up more boutiques which sold casual
clothes worn for everyday wear and sports. She was also mentioned in a American
magazine that was called ‘Harper Bazzar’ in 1916.
But in 1939 she had to close her shops because of World War
2. This affected her personal life because she had no job although her shop
re-opened in 1954 when she was 71. She died at age 88 but she has had a lot of
fashion successes such as the making the 'Little black dress' and the modern working suit for women which was a medium
skirt, jacket and a pearl necklace.
