Aashna Gheewalla
Entrepreneurship
Ms. Jordan
28 February 2017 Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel stated “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” Coco Chanel was born on August 19, 1883 in Saumur France. Her birth name is Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Gabrielle has had a difficult childhood. Coco’s mother passed away due to suffering asthma. After her mother’s death, Chanel and two her sisters were sent to an orphanage and her two brother were sent to a farm to become laborers. At the orphanage, Coco learned the basics of sewing. Along with learning how to sew she also got a basic education at the orphanage. In order to make money, Gabrielle worked as a singer in a coffee shop. That is where Gabrielle obtained her nickname Coco. This nickname stuck with her throughout the rest of her career. In Chanel’s early 20s, she got into a relationship with a French, ex-cavalry officer, and wealthy textile Étienne Balsan. He assisted her in making her dream come true by helping her open her first fashion shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon in 1910 followed by another in the resort town of Deauville. She started selling stylish hats in her shop. Balsan financially allowed Coco to start to follow her dreams. With Balsan’s financial aid Coco
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Chanel was very confident. She broke all the current rules of fashion without doubting herself and believing she would make it. Chanel also had a set vision. She knew exactly what she wanted and made sure she got it. She was extremely determined. Coco Chanel was also very innovative. She always found new ways to take fashion to the next level. For example, she used men’s fabrics to make women’s clothing in a time period where women’s clothing was very conservative. These positive characteristics may have contributed to the fact that she did not have any failures.Putting all of these traits together helped Coco Chanel become as successful as she
Christian Dior was born on the 21 of January 1905. He grew up in Granville France to a affluent family, that worked in manufacturing. ‘Dior’s first interest in clothes developed in his teens when he dressed up as king Neptune for a fancy dress party.’ He went to school to study political science at Ecole des Sciences Politiques in Paris in 1920. This was because of his parent 's insistence. Dior then got the call for military service and served in the French Army from 1927-1928. In 1938 Robert Piguet hired him as a design assistant. Then after the war ended he began working for Lucien Lelong. Before pursing his own ambition and opening his own fashion house. Dior rose to fame quickly after he showcased his first collection ‘La Ligne Corolle’. Carmel Snow the editor and -chief of Harper’s Bazaar at the time gave the collection a name that
Chanel is one of the most prominent fashion brands, their cosmetic line is one that follows the brands positioning in the market, due to this it associated with being high end and luxury. This positioning has been influenced by the associations that consumers make between the brand and the founder Coco Chanel as well as drawing associations from haute-couture fashion as well as aligning the brand with the likes of the fashion scene (Chanel 2013). This brand has been positioned to exude luxury, perfection and quality and with associated high prices and simplistic but sophisticated packaging this has enabled the brand to be positioned as a high-end luxury brand (Chanel 2013).
C. A lot of women know Chanel and they are fascinated of Chanel products, but how many people know about Coco Chanel, the first designer of Chanel?
People often ask me, "When did you first become interested in Coco Chanel?" and if I'm honest, I was fascinated long before I started researching her biography more than a decade ago, all the way back to my earliest memories in childhood. For there on top of my mother's dressing table stood a bottle of Chanel No. 5, beyond my reach but not out of sight, and I knew from the moment I began to discern its mysterious letters and number that there was something magical to the black-and-white cipher. I'm not alone in that discovery -- Chanel has come to represent the essence of everywoman, whether in the scent of her perfume or her choice of bold red lipstick or the perfect little black dress -- but the story of Coco feels somehow entwined with
Coco Chanel was one of the most influential fashion designers of the Twentieth Century and she was the first significant female fashion designer. The fashion world was impacted by Chanel’s phoenix like return to fashion after her retirement in 1953. Chanel introduced men and women to practical yet elegant styles. Although Chanel has been deceased for forty-one years her undeniable influence on fashion and women’s roles in society will be remembered for generations to come. Coco Chanel was an iconic designer and continues to inspire men and women around the world.
Though in her later life she came to be regarded one of the world's most influential designers of all time, Chanel's earlier life was far from glamorous. Coco Chanel was born sometimes in the year 1883 though she later disputed the same as her birth date (replacing it with 1893). Chanel's mother passed on when she was aged 6 years old leaving the young Chanel and four of her siblings under the care of her father. Soon after, her father put her in an orphanage run by Catholic nuns. It is here that the young Channel learnt the art of sewing something that would prove to be much helpful in her later undertakings. When she attained the age of eighteen, Chanel left the orphanage and later on, she secured a job as a seamstress. However, Chanel would occasionally put her other talent, singing, into use by performing at a cabaret. Soon, Chanel moved to Deauville where she become romantically involved with Etienne Balsan and later on became his mistress at the age of 23. It
The French leader of the fashion frontier, Gabrielle “Coco" Chanel built an empire of fashion for women all around world, changed how society viewed women. With her boyish style, Chanel inspired women
This biography, Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life, is a secondary source text written by Lisa Chaney. Published in New York in 2011, this work aims to examine Coco Chanel’s unconventional journey from poverty to glamour, along which she helped to redefine the idea of the modern European woman. This text is intended for an audience of educated individuals with an interest in Coco Chanel and her legacy. Throughout this biography, Chaney references private letters, personal records, and interviews with Chanel’s friends and family to explore the origins of Chanel’s revolutionary ideas that influenced the European feminist movement. This source is valuable because it provides an in-depth examination of Coco Chanel’s life through analysis of new primary source evidence. Additionally, because Chaney is reflecting on Chanel’s life and influence in hindsight, she is able to link Chanel’s work with the progression of European women’s rights throughout the twentieth century, establishing cause and effect relationships. However, this source is limited because Chaney does not take an objective perspective, and, instead, aims to prove her theory that Chanel was extremely
Coco Chanel was born as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France. Chanel was raised on a French countryside by both of her parents. Raised in a modest lifestyle, she was one of five children in her household. By the age of six years old her mother had passed away leaving her father to raise her and her siblings on his own. Not soon after Gabrielle was abandoned by her father and left at an orphanage. While living in an orphanage she learned how to sew by the nuns who raise her. As a young adult she spent many years working in a café as a singer, thus earning the name Coco. Before working as a café singer, Coco worked as a shop girl for a short period of time. By the year of 1910, Coco had opened up her first store titled Chanel Modes and was selling hats. She was able to establish her name and build a
Coco Chanel, born Gabrielle Bonhuer Chanel, on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France was an amazing woman who redefined fashion as we know it today. She was a clothing designer who revolutionized the fashion industry with her suits, little black dresses, and avant garde flare. Because of this quickly in her young life she became well know, and rose to be the fashion icon that she is today. From the timeless designs that are still popular to this day, and the sophisticated outfits that can be paired with great accessories Chanel has done it all. When it comes down to it though it was Coco Chanel’s philosophy that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it’s not luxury” that lead to her success. (“Coco Chanel”)
It wasn’t until Chanel started to create jackets which not only had the purpose of being worn closed, she created jackets that looked good opened, closed or hanging over the shoulders. She emphasized on this style by making blouses to serve the complete outfit. She was also the creator of the “Little Black Dress”, which was a relatively simple black dress made by elegant materials such as lace, tulle, weightless silk and even embroidery in a new, more tailored way. Chanel is today world known for its high quality designs and has women of the 21th century dependent on its classical style (Rennolds Milbank 120-121).
“This is the story of a little girl with a powerful mother who instilled in her the powerful mother who instilled in her the values of hard work and honesty.” D Audrey Hepburn’s mother shaped her to be hardworking in life, put others before herself, and inspired others everywhere. Even though her early life was tough, her rise to fame was slow, and she had many setbacks, she reached many achievements and left a full, rich legacy. Audrey Hepburn inspired thousands, not only through her acting, but through her perseverance and character.
Coco Chanel, born on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France, influenced 1920s fashion greatly through her trademark pieces such as “little black dress” and jersey suits and many more. These key fashion pieces are still very popular in our current day time in women’s fashion. Before Chanel became well known, most women would wear corsets that would leave them feeling stiff to give them more of a hour glass look as well as skirts with long hems that would reach the floor. Chanel went past the social boundaries of most women, and created different and diverse pieces. She disregarded societies idea of
This essay will be considering the historical development of haute couture by analysing Charles Frederick Worth’s (father of haute couture) key factors in the success of haute Couture. I will then discuss Coco Chanel’s thriving impact on haute couture as well as ready-to-wear caused by the second world war. Saint Laurent’s drift to ready-to-wear and the high street fashion system will also be discussed in order to answer if haute couture is relevant in fashion today. The books I will be analysing and referencing are ‘A Cultural History of Fashion in the 20th Century’ by Bonnie English, ‘Couture’ by Ruth Lynam, ‘How Fashion Works’ by Gavin Waddell. Which will thoroughly breakdown the evolution and historical development of fashion by cultural, economic, environmental and social changes to finally come into a conclusion.
August 19, 1883, Saumur, France (“Coco Chanel”): this is the date of when Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born. While Chanel’s aesthetic in her later years was glamour, glitz, and glam, her early years were not the same. Chanel's mother died when she was twelve, and due to her peddling father, she and her two other sisters went into foster care (Collage). There she was raised by nuns who taught her how to sew (“Coco Chanel”), a skill that will benefit her later in life. Before Chanel entered the fashion world, she was briefly a nightclub singer. This is where she coined the nickname “Coco” and met a very important man to her career (“Coco Chanel”). This man was the wealthy business man Arthur “boy” Cape, and