Coco Chanel

Gabrielle Coco Chanel created one of the most famous international fashion brands the world has ever known. Beginning with a small headgear shop in Paris in 1910, it quickly expanded into luxurious jersey sportswear that caught the attention of women in Parisian society clamoring for Coco Chanel designs as an escape from their previous corset looks. Chanel also made black and elegant color in fashion rather than being reserved only for funerals and mourning. In 1921, it was the first fashion house to create a fragrance, the famous Chanel No.5, which was very successful and remains one of the most popular fragrances on the market. Coco Chanel created some of the most iconic designs and styles, including the quilted bag, little black dress, collarless suit, and interlocking C logo.

Coco Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France. Her early years were anything but glamorous. At age 12, after her mother died, Chanel was taken to an orphanage by her father, who worked as a street vendor.

Chanel was raised by nuns who taught her to sew, a skill that would lead to her life's work. Her nickname comes from another occupation entirely. During her brief singing career, Chanel performed at clubs in Vichy and Moulins, where she was called "Coco."

Some say the name comes from one of the songs, she used to sing, and Chanel herself said it was a "a shortened version of cocotte, the French word for 'kept woman,'" according to an article in The Atlantic.

In her early 20s, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan, who offered to help her start a headgear business in Paris. She soon left him for one of her richest friends, Arthur "Boy" Capel. Both men were instrumental in Chanel's first fashion adventure.

Opening her first store on Rue Cambon in Paris in 1910, Chanel began selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and started making clothes.

Her first experience with clothing success came from a dress she made from an old T-shirt on a cold day. In response to the many people who asked her where she got the dress, she offered to make one for them. "My fortune is based on that old T-shirt I wore because it was cold in Deauville," she once told author Paul Morand.

Chanel became a popular figure in the Parisian artistic and literary world. She designed costumes for the Ballets Russes and Jean Cocteau's play Orphée, and counted Cocteau and artist Pablo Picasso among her friends.

During the German occupation of France, Chanel became involved with a Nazi military officer, Hans Gunther von Dincklage. She obtained special permission to stay in her apartment at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, which also served as German military headquarters.

After the war ended, Chanel was questioned about her relationship with von Dincklage, but she was not charged as a collaborator. Some have wondered if her friend Winston Churchill worked behind the scenes on behalf of Chanel.

While he was not officially charged, Chanel suffered in the court of public opinion. Some still saw her relationship with a Nazi officer as a betrayal of her country.

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