In honour of International Women’s Day, let us celebrate Coco Chanel by taking a look back at her remarkable history and some of her most memorable quotes.
FIB struggled to narrow this special day down to just one female contributor, nay revolutionary, among the fashion world that was worthy of extra-special recognition. Indeed, there are a multitude of tremendous, rebellious, boundary-destroying queens who deserve endless praise and notoriety. However, when you think “fashion icon”, one name does come to mind almost immediately: Coco Chanel. Not just for her fabulous designs that have been the benchmark for timeless sophistication and class since the early 1900’s, but for her incredible individuality paired with a tenacity that simply defied a woman of her time.
Born on 19 August 1883, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was raised by nuns in an orphanage in France following the death of her mother. It was there that she was taught to sew, thus developing the skills that would inadvertently lead to the career of a thousand lifetimes. She wasn’t always in fashion, however. She in fact had a rather brief career as a singer, performing in clubs in Vichy and Moulins, France, where she gained her now iconic name “Coco”.
Beginning her career in fashion by selling hats in her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910, it wasn’t until the humble creation of a dress made from an old jersey that Chanel gained momentum toward extraordinary success within the fashion world. Chanel said,
“My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville.”
A bad turn of weather certainly put her on the path to a life that most others spend their own only dreaming about.
A string of other designs that pushed the boundaries of women’s fashion for the time include the iconic little black dress, or “LBD” as it is simply known today. Breaking the stigma of black dresses and mourning was proceeded by the blending of men’s wear with women’s wear, thus bringing to the public the legendary Chanel suit. It was the beginning of the end for uncomfortable corsets and other confining garments, which to women all of the world couldn’t have been a greater feat. As she said herself,
“Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.”
In 1924, Chanel introduced arguably what is the most infamous perfume in history to the market: Chanel No 5. Rumoured to have been created as the result of an error while blending ingredients, the now iconic fragrance is just another notch in the metaphoric belt of Chanel’s successes. Chanel did, after all, uphold that perfume is, “…the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion. . . . that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure.” We can’t argue with her there.
Some amiable advice for women all over the globe from Coco Chanel herself in two of her most inspiring quotes are,
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different”, and “The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” Amen, Mademoiselle Chanel.