Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel's mother passed away when she was a young child. This lead Coco to her beginnings in tailoring because her mother was no longer around to do it for her. She learned to be a seamstress at a very early age. Chanel spent most of her childhood life in an orphanage which also lead her to gaining her own sense of independence. The first job she got upon leaving the orphanage as a young adult was working for a nearby tailor. This not only made her some money but was an opportunity to meet more and more people in the fashion industry. It was through these people and the fashion and design lifestyle itself, that her interest in the design field skyrocketed. She spent a lot of her alone time designing her own clothing and hats to turn her creative dreams into a reality. She was a hard worker and put her personal style into everything she was designing.

It was in Paris that Chanel was able to open her first store. After long hours and tedious designing, her store was deemed unsuccessful. She was forced to shut it down and move onto something else. Even after this, Coco kept her passion of design in mind and kept full confidence in her work. Therefore enduring this challenge, a usual setback, was nothing but encouragement for the young designer to push on. She was determined to prove herself as a designer and show the world what she could do. Chanel then opened more stores in numerous other locations. Americans became fans and consumers of her work feel in love with it, thus soon making America her largest market.

Chanel saw elegance in pure simplicity. She focused on simple designs and made them elegant even with less-than-favorable resources and fabrics of the time. The simplicity of her designs is even translated into the condition of the Chanel line today. Some designs have stayed relatively similar because they are not only beautiful but practical. Also, being the first designer to attach her name to a fragrance, its not a surprise that Chanel's No. 5 fragrance is still in existence today just the way it was in 1921 when it was released. It is said that Chanel was still designing at the time of her death in 1971 at the age of 87. Coco's line lives on and makes a statement on today's fashion world. The newest line is The Chanel Fall/Winter 09/10 line. It keeps Chanel's original simplistic design technique and mixes it with a modern edge. Young fashionistas compare a Chanel bag or article of clothing to such important things like an engagement ring. Not only did Coco have a fantastic passion for fashion and designing but she is also seen as an inspiration to those who wish to follow their dreams. She had heart in all that she did and thus climbed up the ladder to success reaching levels even she couldn't have dreamed. Chanel was not given much opportunity at the start of her life but most the most of what she was given. Her collections are still huge in today's fashion world and are continued on and respected by many.

Sources: http://www.hotcakefashion.com/?q=coco-chanel-biography

http://cocochanel-blog.com/

Chanel Soliaire by: Claude Baillen