Born at the end of the 19th century in France in a family very poor. When she was only 12 years old, her mother died and her father sent her to an orphanage, where she learned to sew and had her first approach to fashion. When he turned 18 he had to leave the orphanage and get a job as a tailor's assistant, where he had another approach to the world of fashion.
It was common for the tailor's customers to flirt with her and that's how she They invited them to the local cabaret. Coco Chanel, attracted by the world of entertainment, began working in a coffee concert singing to entertain customers during downtime at the main shows.
The presence of soldiers was common among the public. That's how he met Etienne Balsan, cavalry officer and rich textile heir. At 23 she became his lover and they lived in his castle where He began to rub shoulders with the European elite. And that's how she met and fell in love with a friend of her partner: Capel, an English millionaire who settled her in Paris and He helped open his first stores.
Their stores had much success, He managed to make elegant, but comfortable and practical clothes. All of this until the start of the First World War, which represented a serious blow to your business and then, in 1919, another blow marked her: his love Capel died tragically.
He traveled to Italy to take refuge from his pain and there he began to become interested in world of perfumes. In 1921 he launched the famous Chanel Nº5 whose fragrance and bottle remain almost unchanged until today.
Coco Chanel continued her success Setting trend. The simplicity of her style, breaking with the baroque of previous years, gave her World Fame. He eliminated the corset, introduced pants for women and knee-length skirts.
But Coco was also a controversial figure. His aversion towards the lower classes, gays and Jews became more evident with the outbreak of World War II. At that time, he decided to live in the Hotel Ritz (Paris), where the Nazi high command also stayed during the occupation.
Her relationship with a German officer caused was interrogated of course espionage and had to leave for Switzerland at the end of the war. That tarnished his reputation. especially in France.
In 1954, and at more than 70 years old, returned to fashion launching a new collection. Success in England and the US It was total.
Controversial, rebellious, ambitious, influential, revolutionary, Coco Chanel died alone in the suite of the Hotel Ritz at 87 years old. A woman who marked an era.
