Coco Chanel

David, Can you bring template/pic over from Wikipedia? It says on the tag; fair use includes: It is used for educational purposes E

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel
Personal Information
Name	Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel
Nationality	French
Birth date	August 19, 1883
Birth place	Saumur
Date of death	January 10, 1971
Place of death	Paris, France
Working Life
Label Name	Chanel

Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (August 19, 1883 – January 10, 1971) was a pioneering French fashion designer who single handedly launched a fashion empire that steered women away from the fussy, frilly, constricted styles of post World War I and towards understated elegance, simplicity, and comfortable chic. She, herself was a paragon of style and - and borrowing from menswear - she brought into vogue sportswear and bell bottom pants for women.

Like other modernists of the 1920s such as Diaghilev, Picasso, Stravinsky and Cocteau, she sought a new form of self expression, one that allowed for greater freedom and creativity. An impoverished childhood provided the motivation for her to make fashion more affordable and accessible - she began with creations that she made herself. Although her popularity waned after World War II she staged a comeback in the 1950s partly in reaction to Christian Dior's "New Look" and went on to become one the most important figures in the history of 20th-century fashion. Her influence on haute couture was such that she was the only person in the field to be named in TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Early Life and Career

She was born the second daughter of itinerant merchant Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle in the small town of Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. Her parents married in 1883 the year after she was born.. She had four siblings: two sisters, Julie and Antoinette, and two brothers, Alphonse and Lucien. A third brother died in infancy in 1891 and the difficult pregancy ultimately led to the deather of her mother in 1895. Shortly thereafter her father abandoned the family and was not seen or heard from again. The daughters were put in the care of a Catholic monastery in the town of Moulins where the young Chanel learned the trade of seamstress. Some of the facts of Chanel's childhood are obscured and Chanel herself often embellished upon the details most likely to distance herself from the pain of abandonment.

At the age of twenty she was befriended by wealthy and well connected textile heir, Étienne Balsan, who introduced her to an upper class social circle for which she began designing hats to be worn to horse races. Newspapers quickly took note of her work. Balsan introduced Chanel to the "love of her life," English industrialist and sportsman, Arthur "Boy" Capel. With his financial backing she opened her first shop in 1910 at 21 rue Cambon in Paris. A boutique in Deauville soon followed and in 1918 she moved her firm to 31 rue Cambon where her business and residence remained for the rest of her life. Chapel's death in a car accident in 1919 was devasting for Chanel who became even more committed to her work and, although she had several highly publicized affairs, she never married.

The Chanel Look

In 1921, Chanel No. 5 perfume was introduced. The number in its name is said to be Coco's lucky number, however it was actually chosen because the scent she selected was the fifth sample.^{[citation needed]} Pierre Wertheimer became her partner in the perfume business in 1924, after searching for two years. Wertheimer owned 70% of the company, while Chanel received 10% and her friend Bader 20%. Chanel No. 5 became a thorn in Coco's side, as she received very little income from its success. The Wertheimers continue to control the perfume company today. In the late 1950s, Marilyn Monroe revealed that Chanel No. 5 was her favourite perfume. When asked what she wore in bed, she replied "Two drops of Chanel No. 5." A bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold every 30 seconds.^{[citation needed]}

The influential Chanel suit, launched in 1923, was an elegant suit comprising a knee-length skirt and trim, boxy jacket, traditionally made of woven wool with black trim and gold buttons and worn with large costume-pearl necklaces. Coco Chanel also popularized the little black dress, whose blank-slate versatility allowed it to be worn for day and evening, depending on how it was accessorized. Although unassuming black dresses existed before Chanel, the ones she designed were considered the haute couture standard.^{[citation needed]} In 1923, she told Harper's Bazaar that "simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance." Chanel always kept the clothing she designed simple and comfortable. She took what was considered poor fabrics like jersey and upgraded them."

Retirement and Comeback

For more than 30 years, Gabrielle Chanel made the Hôtel Ritz Paris her home, even during the Nazi occupation of Paris. During that time she was criticized for having an affair with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a German officer who arranged for her to remain in the hotel. She also maintained an apartment above her Rue Cambon couture house and built Villa La Pausa in the town of Roquebrune on the French Riviera. However, she spent her later years in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she is buried. Her tombstone is carved with five stone lion heads.

Broadway

In 1969, Chanel was portrayed on the Broadway stage by Katharine Hepburn in a musical by Andre Previn and Alan Jay Lerner, and on screen by the French actress Marie-France Pisier. Written by William Luce, a new play based on her life, entitled 'Crème de Coco,' is also debuting in April, 2007 at St. Ambrose University and will be directed by Philip Wm. McKinley (director of the Tony Award winning Broadway musical, The Boy From Oz).

The House of Chanel in Paris, under Karl Lagerfeld, remains one of the top design houses today.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• "Coco Chanel," American Decades, Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
• "Coco Chanel," Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 2. Gale Group 2002. Reproduced inBiography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale 2007.
• Ten Boom, Corrie, Tramp for the Lord, (1974) ISBN 0-340-86376-5

External links

• "Home Page", The Official Website of Chanel, Retrieved July 23, 2007.
• "Short Biography of Coco Chanel", BiographyShelf.com, Retrieved July 23, 2007.

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