To: Professor Lang May 11, 2010

From: Victoria Shepard

Assignment: The Chair: An Interpretation of a Designers Style (A process)

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

Coco Chanel was originally born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on August 19, 1883 in Saumur
France. The Chanel family did not have money, and they lived in a poor house in a narrow
street. When Gabrielle was twelve, her mother died, and her father disappeared. She had two
sisters and two brothers, and she and her sisters went to an orphanage, and her brothers went to
a farm and became child laborers. During her six years at the orphanage of the Roman Catholic
monastery of Aubazine, she learned the trade of a seamstress. When she turned eighteen, she
left the orphanage, and the ambitious young girl took off for the town of Moulins to become a
cabaret singer. During this time, Chanel performed in clubs in Vichy and Moulins where she was
called Coco. Some say that the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, and
Chanel herself said that it was a shortened version of cocotte, the French word for kept
woman. While she failed to get steady work as a singer, it was here that she met rich, young
French textile heir tienne Balsan, to whom she soon became an acknowledged mistress,
keeping her day job in a tailoring shop.
Balsan lavished Coco Chanel with the beauties of "the rich life": diamonds dresses and
pearls. While living with Balsan, she began designing hats as a hobby, which soon became a
deeper interest of hers. Not too long after, Chanel left Balsan and took over his apartment in
Paris. In 1913, she opened up her very first shop, which sold a range of fashionable raincoats and
jackets. Situated in the heart of Paris it wasn't long before the shop went out of business and
Chanel was asked to surrender her properties.
During the pre-war era, Chanel met up with an estranged and former best friend of
tienne Balsan, Arthur "Boy" Capel, with whom she soon fell in love. With his assistance, Chanel
was able to acquire the property and financial backing to open her second millinery shop in
Brittney. Her hats were worn by celebrated French actresses, which helped to establish her
reputation. Chanel introduced womens sportswear at her new boutique. Her third shop and
successor to her biggest store in France was located in Deauville, where more women during the
World War I era came to accept her revolutionary view that women were supposed to dress for
themselves and not their men.
In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Chanel closed her shops. She did not close
them because of a financial or personal life issue but because she believed that it was not a
time for fashion. She lived in the Htel Ritz Paris on and off for more than 30 years, making the
hotel her Paris home even during the German occupation. During that time she was criticized for
having an affair with Hans Gunther von Dincklage, a German officer and Nazi spy who arranged
for her to remain in the hotel. In 1945, she fled to Switzerland to avoid the accusations and
gossip, eventually returning to Paris in 1954, the same year she returned to the fashion world. Her
new collection did not have much success with the Parisians because of her relationship with the
Nazis; however, it was much applauded by the British and Americans, who became her faithful
customers.
Coco Chanels designs were so praised and popular because she really transitioned a
time of corsets and uncomfortable heavy clothing to lighter yet just as fashionable and dressy
clothes. Some of her most influential designs Coco Chanel is so well known for are the little black
dress. In 1926 American Vogue named Coco Chanels black dress a Ford, meaning its
simplicity and it' had the potential for an enormous and long-lasting success. It was the little
black dress that inspired the famous remark of her competitor Paul Poiret: What has Chanel
invented? De luxe poverty. Also Chanel made popular the sailor blouse, the skirt suite, which
Jackie Kennedy was best known for wearing, her perfume Chanel Number 5, and an
abundance of costume jewelry, which most popular was the ivory pearls complimented with her
signature logo. Coco Chanel died on 1971 but her legacy continues through the designs of Karl
Lagerfeld who uses her design philosophy and his unique style to design modern day Chanel
fashion.
The epigraph at the top of my paper quotes Coco Chanel herself saying 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. Her design philosophy came from her need and
want for a simplistic and comfortable wardrobe without compromising elegance and class. Her
designs reflected what was going on at the time and the people and environment she was
around. It was her belief that the dress did not make the woman but the woman made the
dress, which is very evident in studying her designs.
Coco Chanel is one of the most legendary fashion icons and designers for so many
reasons. I learned a lot of interesting and inspiring facts about her life while doing this project. I
truly can say I enjoyed this project over all of my past work because it allowed me to study one
of my favorite fashion designers lives, learning how she grew up, what influenced her, and how
she viewed her design philosophy. Also, with everything I learned I got to projectile it into a chair
based off her designs that I myself designed forcing me to use creativity I dont usually apply in
other projects. After everything Ive learned, I have a new appreciation for Coco Chanel who
came from absolutely nothing and created an empire that is still well respected and seen today.
Her story has influenced me and opened my eyes to the fact that anything is possible and no
matter what anyone tells you, you can do anything you set your mind to.















Work Cited
http://coololdstuff.com/coco.html
http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/coco-chanel.html
Madsen, Axel . Chanel: A Woman of Her Own . Geneva, IL. Holt McDougal . September 1991
http://www.famous-women-and-beauty.com/coco-chanel-dress.html
http://www.wc.pdx.edu/chanel/chanel.html

exceed