Real name Gabrielle Bonheur ChanelCoco Chanel was a French designer capable of revolutionizing, with her vision, the concept of femininity, establishing herself in the world of fashion, becoming a fundamental figure of the 20th century and founding a famous fashion house.
Coco Chanel’s Difficult Childhood
Coco Chanel she was born in Saumurvillage in the Loire Valley, August 19, 1883. Daughter of a seamstress and a traveling salesman, she spent her childhood in an orphanage in Aubazine.
At 18, she moved to a Catholic girls’ boarding school near Moulins in central France. Here, she supported herself by working as a seamstress, but also by singing at the Rotonde, a place frequented by the military.
According to many, the nickname Coco was given to Gabrielle in recent years because of a song she often sang, entitled “Qui qu’a vu Coco dans l’Trocadéro?”.
In 1906 he began working in a Vichy Thermal Centertourist resort with concert halls, cafes and theatres.
Coco Chanel’s career
It was precisely during these years that Coco Chanel met Étienne Balsan, a former cavalry officer with whom she became his lover. For three years, he lived in her castle, thus changing his lifestyle.
Étienne introduces him to high society, teaching him to ride a horse and appreciate luxury. Shortly after, love for another man will arrive: Arthur Edward Capel, known as Boy, a member of English high society.
According to biographer Justine Picardie, Balsan was the father of Coco Chanel’s only child. Indeed, the expert is convinced that André Palasse, her sister’s son, is in reality the fruit of the love between Chanel and Balsan.
Capel’s death, which occurred in a car accident, deeply affected Coco, who later said: “When I lost Capel, I lost everything. I have to say that my life was not happy afterward.”
These two loves of Coco Chanel helped her to start her artistic activity. Thanks to Balsan, in fact, Coco launched her first hat-making business, while the loan received from Capel allowed her to open a boutique.
At the beginning of the war, Coco Chanel moved to Deuvillein Normandy, where his creations enjoyed enormous success, also revealing the creative flair of a great stylist.
Back in Paris, Chanel brought her house back to life, demonstrating her enormous talent. He replaced wool with jerseychoosing essential seams and becoming more and more noticed.
In the interwar period, Coco meets the chemist Ernest Beaux and gave life, in 1921, to the iconic perfume that would mark history. The beginning of the Second World War brought a series of problems into the designer’s life.
Chanel was forced to close several boutiques, while her friendship with a Nazi officer led to her arrest in 1944.
After the interrogation, he took refuge in Switzerland and remained in voluntary exile for nine years. He returned to Paris in 1954 with the aim of devoting himself solely to haute couture.
He would continue to work until his death in 1971, leaving us iconic pieces. Like the little black dress, the suit with box jacket and knee-length skirt, but also the leather shoulder bag, the two-tone slingback shoes, the pearls worn on very long cords, the Maltese cross bracelets and the Chanel N°5 Perfume.
Coco Chanel, dead
Legend has it that one night, Chanel fell asleep early, claiming she didn’t feel well. Before locking herself in her room, she said to the maid, “You see, this is how you die.”
The next day, Sunday, January 10, 1971, she was found dead at the Ritz Hotel where she had lived for thirty years. The funeral was held at Church of the Madeleinein the presence of his favorite models and characters such as Salvador Dalí and Yves Saint Laurent.
Coco Chanel was later buried in Vaux Wood Cemetery from Lausanne, Switzerland. The designer’s enormous fortune was inherited by her nephew André Palasse and his two daughters.
Gabrielle continued to design clothes until her death, with the help of Pierre Cardin, who would later become a great designer. A few years after her death, the company was bought by Jacques Wertheimer, a renowned entrepreneur. In 1982, Karl Lagerfeld became the creative director of the house, relaunching the brand across the world.
The Private Life of Coco Chanel
Independent, strong, but also extremely fragile, Coco Chanel has known many loves which have inevitably marked her art. The first love is that for Etienne Balsanvery wealthy heir to a family that worked in the textile industry.
He will help her start her journey in the fashion world by lending her the Parisian apartment where Coco will make and sell her hats.
In addition, it will be Étienne Balsan himself who will introduce Coco to her great love, Boys’ Chapelpolo player and industrialist. Arthur – that’s his real name – will financially support the designer by advancing her the money she will need to open the boutique at 31 rue Cambon in Paris.
As we know, Coco and Boy Chapel, despite their love, will never marry. In 1918, because of Rank questionsHe married another woman, Diana Wyndham, and the following year he died in an accident. A farewell that would break Coco Chanel’s heart and mark her forever.
Boy Chapel will always be in the heart of Coco (it seems that the two Cs in her brand logo indicate Chapel and Chanel), but over the years the designer also experienced other loves.
The secret to Igor Stravinskya composer fleeing Russia whom she welcomed into her house in the Parisian countryside, and for Hugh Grosvenor, Duke of Westminster, who offered her Rosehall House in Scotland.
For ten years Coco Chanel will be the lover of Hugh GrosvenorThe story ends when he asks Gabrielle to marry him and she says no, determined not to become his fourth wife.
On the other hand, Coco has never hidden her thoughts on love and men. “We women need beauty to be loved by men, we need stupidity to love men,” she once said. And again: “A man can wear whatever he wants. He will always remain a feminine accessory.”