A fashion icon, and the most important person in the fashion world.

“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”- Coco Chanel

Gabrielle Chanel, more commonly known as “Coco” Chanel was born in France, August 19, 1883. She grew up in a small house on a narrow street with a rather poor lifestyle. Her mother had died when she was young and her father left her family when she was only twelve years old.  She grew up with two sisters and two brothers, and was sent to an orphanage and lived there for six years. From a young age she knew she wasn’t going to be another housewife with a tight corset and multiple petticoats.

In the early 1900's she introduced the fashion world to a suit for women. This liberated women from the dreadful corsets and petticoats that were common at this time. She stated that women should have “the possibility to laugh and eat, without necessarily having to faint.” Along with the woman's suit, she started the craze for flapper hats, and the bobbed haircut. She didn’t have much money at a young age so she used inexpensive jersey to make her designs, the cloth that was used for men’s clothing. She got many of her ideas from men’s clothing, seeing them as an inspiration. She went for more of a relaxed feel which was seen to be uncommon in these days. She stated "I make fashion women can live in, breath in, feel comfortable in and look younger in." She was also the inventor of the idea of a “little black dress” which is still used in today’s world. She is known to be the first designer to name a perfume after herself, which is seen throughout the fragrance industry.

Without Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who knows what the world would be like today. Coco Chanel broke the mold in women’s fashion and gave the opportunity for them to express themselves. She introduced women into a unique style which is seen everywhere today. Coco wanted to make women more modern and give them the opportunity to stand among the men in the working world, and a suit gave women an opportunity to do so.  Gabrielle Chanel died in 1971 at the age of 87.