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FASHION

Tweed, stripes
and the little
black dress

Perhaps the most influential designer of the 20th century was born 143 years ago today: Coco Chanel – a pioneer of the effortlessly elegant look for modern women. Time to take a look at her success story.

  • Text
    Verena Stuhlinger

By doing away with laced corsets and intricate details, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel revolutionised women’s fashion and brought a breath of fresh air and esprit to haute couture. She was far ahead of her time in every respect, broadened the concept of luxury and beauty, and created not just a look, but an ‘allure’. Yet her story began in a manner that was anything but glamorous.

“A dress can look as beautiful as you like on a hanger, but that doesn’t mean anything. You have to see it on the body, with the movement of the arms, legs and waist.”
Coco Chanel

Gabrielle Chanel was born on 19 August 1883 in Saumur. When she was twelve years old, her mother died, whereupon her father sent her and her older sister to an orphanage. It was there that she learnt to sew. Her difficult years as an orphan shaped her into an extraordinary, bold and independent woman. As a young woman, she found work in Moulins, working as a seamstress by day and a singer by night. It was through the songs ‘Ko Ko Ri Ko’ and ‘Qui qu’a vu Coco dans l’Trocadéro’, which she performed there, that she came to be known by the nickname by which she is still known today: ‘Coco’.

The early days of CHANEL
As early as 1910, Coco opened her first shop in Paris – a hat boutique called ‘CHANEL MODES’. Whilst she initially received financial support from her great love, Arthur Boy Capel – who died in a car accident in 1919, a heavy blow for Coco – she very soon stood on her own two feet. Spurred on by her success, further boutiques followed in Deauville and Biarritz, where she was by then employing 300 staff – until she opened her first couture house at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris in 1918.

In 1924, Coco Chanel joined forces with Pierre Wertheimer, a businessman from a prominent family of merchants, with the aim of marketing her fragrance CHANEL N°5. Wertheimer financed the production – and in return retained a large share of the perfume business. Coco Chanel herself is said to have retained just ten per cent. We surely need not tell you that the fragrance went on to become the world’s best-selling perfume. The fashion designer fought for years to renegotiate her share of the profits. It was not until 1947 that an agreement was reached. Chanel received a lifetime royalty of two per cent on all perfume sales. This made her one of the richest women of her time.

“Fashion is like architecture: it’s all about proportions.”
Coco Chanel

During the Second World War, Coco Chanel closed her fashion house and retired to Switzerland. In 1954, at the age of 70, she made her comeback and led the house back to the top. Until her death on 10 January 1971 at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, Coco Chanel remained the sole creative force behind her name.

It was a decision that paid off, as her legacy extends far beyond her lifetime. The legendary Karl Lagerfeld reinterpreted her vision for decades, making CHANEL a style icon for younger generations too. Following his death in 2019, his long-standing right-hand woman, Virginie Viard, took over as creative director until she was succeeded in early 2025 by the Franco-Belgian designer Matthieu Blazy. He is now ensuring that Coco Chanel’s legacy of elegance and independence lives on.

You can find out more about Coco Chanel’s life in “The Art of Being Chanel – Coco Chanel Tells Her Life Story”, published by Schirmer/Mosel Verlag.

→ osiander.de
Verena Stuhlinger

Verena Stuhlinger

Editor
Verena once travelled from Swabia to Belfast, where she studied English and something to do with media - and instead of staying for one year, she stayed for six. What did she bring back from there? A (further) questionable dialect, a few words of Irish and a (perhaps unhealthy) amount of black humour. After that, she continued working in publishing as an editor - and is now back in the south. Where she writes about the finer things in life in the online editorial team at ramp. Even though she still has a heart for print. You can also inspire her with good books. And good food anyway.

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