Coco Chanel, World Fashion Icon

What a science! Beauty, what a powerful weapon! Modesty, what a puzzle! ”

It has been one of the most popular and important fashion names in the world. It has been an icon and inspiration to many and remains today among the greatest names of all time, a figure that is hard to replace. Coco Chanel is remembered not only for its styles but also for the advice and expressions that inspire the whole fashion world and women in particular.

“Elegance is not about wearing a new dress”, Coco Chanel said. To become irreplaceable, you must always be different”, says another expression.

Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel was born on August 19th 1883 in Sauron, Maine-etat-Loire, France, and was separated from life on January 10, 1971, at the age of 87. Chanel was an illegal child. Her father was not present during her upbringing. He was an ambulance merchant who was on the move all the time. He sold buttons and ribbons, elements found in Chanel's styles. When she was 11, she lost her mother. Dad put Chanel in an orphanage where she learned to sew. Although Chanel's father was absent in her life, he had a huge impact on her. Chanel learned in the orphanage the elements that would make him the famous designer.

She learned to combine dark colors with light, white and black. The pearls, which are very present in Chanel style, remind you of the spherical rosaries that nuns place around the waist. Chanel, after leaving the orphanage, began to sing in the cabin. With the money a boyfriend gave her, she started trading hats in Paris.

Fashion writer Justin Picardie, the author who wrote the book “Coco Chanel: Legends and her life”, the last book of famous stylists, says customers wanted Chanel's clothes and wanted the same things as her. At that time, women wore corset. They wore tight clothes that prevented them from breathing, walking normally, or running. They looked frozen, and Chanel wanted to bring about freedom, which would highlight feminine grace. Chanel removed his clothes from the crust and put in fashion open - colored, truly sensual and classic styles at the same time.

Taking interviews from her early acquaintances, relatives and employees like Carl Lageferd, the creative director of “Chanel”, Picardi says she had the ability to turn into a commoner.

It was very contradictory, there were periods that were very unhappy and very lonely. There have also been periods filled with joy and fun in her life. But I think the drop that started with her father would come back from time to time. And at the end of her life, although she had close friends, she died only”, says Justin Picardy.

Chanel was not only a popular designer in France but also a very successful businessman. She began her career by stylizing hats, earlier in Paris in 1908, and then in Deauville. In this city, in 1914, it opens its first shops, continuing in 1916 with the Biarrriz high - fashion salon. Success comes in the 1920s, when it manages to open its central offices in “Rue de Cambon” N.31 in Paris, from where it begins to transform into a symbol of the then generation.

Along with Paul Poiret, Chanel was praised in the post-World War I era for freeing women from the restrictions of the “silette corset” and popularising a sports elite, bringing in another female style standard. An extraordinary designer of fashion, Chanel extended its influence beyond simple clothing, understanding its aesthetic design on ornaments, bags, hats, and perfumes. She's the only designer on the magazine's list “Time” of 100 people with the greatest impact of the 20th century.

Chanel was known for her eternal determination, ambition and energy in her professional and social life. She also achieved financial success as a businessman and was viewed with suspicion among the French higher society, thanks to the connections she created in her work, which included many artists and artisans. Her social ties seemed to encourage a conservative personal view. There were many rumors about Chanel's activities during France's German occupation during World War II, so she was criticized for having a very close relationship with the Germans. After the war, after spending several years in Switzerland, she returned to Paris and devoted herself to her fashion home.

In 2011, Hal Vaughan published a book on Chanel based on the recent documents of that era, revealing that she had cooperated with the Germans in the intelligence activities.

Fashion designers say Chanel has “invented women's mode”. Thanks to its innovative models, women's clothing became aesthetic pieces, unlike the clothing that limited them, until World War I.

Her life similar to a fairy tale has inspired different films and documentaries. Even for the writers, the history of her life has been appealing. “Coco Chanel: Legend and life” is the last book to explore what the author calls the “The secret” of Chanel.

In 1950-60 Chanel was on the run. She wore everyone, from Brigitte Bardot, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Taylor and Merlin Monroe. Jacky Kennedy used to wear it.

Critical and fashion editor Susie Menkes says:

The Chanel Secret is cleanliness, modernity, letter C marking, and sometimes it looks extremely dynamic, modern. Her name continues to be well managed even after her death. Carl Lagerfeld continues on track”

Menkes says that's why Chanel remains the fashion icon. The great stylist is turned into an inspiration with her name.

On the list of “Time” among the 100 most important women of the 20th century, she's the woman who designed, thought and brought the cult of the short black fustan. Perfume “Chanel 5”, which was also its favorite, is considered the world's most knowledgeable and sold as its own creations are still held today as the most beautiful creations in the fashion world. Thanks to it, France is still synonymous with the highest fashion industry.

“Moda is not something that exists only in clothing. She's in heaven, on the road. Fashion has to do with ideas, lifestyle, what's going on,” said Chanel.