Coco Chanel: An Inventor of Fashion Design

Born in France, Coco Chanel is one of the most famous designers in the world. She dedicated most of her life to fashion design. She is the one behind the famous brand called Chanel. One more important thing about this lady designer is that she is the only designer to be listed among the top 100 most influential people of the 20th century. She has really made her mark in fashion design by making some markable designs in aesthetics, clothing, handbags, bangles, and many other items. The perfume made of her signature scent, Chanel No, has been one of the most lavish products and has been very popular for the past few years.

Birth and a Career

Coco Chanel was born in 1883 in a hospital in Saumur, Maine−et−Loire, France and died on January 10, 1971. Her mother gave birth to her as the second child. Her mother was a daily wage worker who used to peddle undergarments and other clothes. These used to live on the outskirts of the town.

She learned to sew from a very young age. With those talents, she found employment as a seamstress. Before that, she used to sing songs in the office of cavalry officers. Taking those credits into mind, she made her debut in the world of singing on the stage at a café−concert. She also worked as a poseuse. A poseuse is someone who appears in the middle of the stars and entertains the audience.

What is the Meaning of COCO?

Coco is not her name. This name was given to her after her famous song “Who Has Seen Coco?” became famous and went gaga over the crowd. She was most often called by this name by her father. Her Works

She opened a boutique in the year 1913, which got its capital from Arthur Capital. Through this boutique, she introduced some deluxe kinds of casual clothing. This clothing is most suitable for leisure and sport. Her main idea came from the thought of using the cloth used for making underwear and all. With all her efforts, she was able to extend this boutique through which she sold many kinds of hats, jackets, sweaters, etc.

After this huge success, she started an establishment in 1915 which started to get its success.

Abroad Associations

In 1923, she was given an offer to participate in the elections of a British country by the aristocrat of that country, Vera Bate Lombardi. She was given the opportunity to rise through the ranks of the British aristocracy.

Designing for a Film

She was introduced to the film industry by one of her mutual friends, Monte Carlo. From then on, her career started to grow into tons of millions. She started directing two to three films a year. She has designed for many famous stars on screen, like Gloria Swanson and Linda Carrie. For some time, she has become a private designer for so many private clients.

Activity as a Nazi Agent

Many women were punished for giving their support to the German army. She, too, has lent her support to Germany’s army. While so many women were punished for collaborating with German officers, she was not even charged for doing that. During this time, she flew to Switzerland to avoid charges of being a spy for the German army.

Hu Model Operation

This is regarding her participation in World War II in helping the Nazis. In 2014, documents were released regarding her active participation in Germany. She worked as a spy in a plan to take control of Madrid. She went to Madrid to convince the British ambassador to Spain about their surrender once the war was over and the allied powers were victorious. She had to meet Mr. Winston Churchill regarding this. All the work is done under the name of “Operation Model Hat”, most formerly called “Operation Hut.”

Prosecution and Protection

During this time, she was interrogated by the Free French Purge Committee regarding the prosecution charges against her. As no one has any documentation proof regarding this, she has to get released. Due to Mr. Churchill’s involvement, many people think that if this matter is prolonged and made into an issue, then Mr. Churchill’s intervention could make this a problem.

Her contribution to the Design Field

As a designer, she made many of the greatest designs in the world of aesthetics: clothes, fabrics, bangles, handbags. Some of her major works, or so−called contributions to her life, include the following −

Many of the present trends that are being followed now are mostly her initiatives. She has been a brand ambassador for the greatest creativity in the field of

The gaga−going things of that generation are long hair, hobble skirts, aigrettes, etc. Some of her ideas have emerged from the people of Britain.

History was created out of undergarment cloth

She started a trend of making clothes out of previously used undergarments. That is nothing but jersey cloth. At the starting stage, this idea was opposed by many, as cloth is very delicate and looks very ordinary when used in making dresses or so−called couture. She purchased this jersey cloth at a very low cost at the time. The quality of the fabric remained the same even though the cost of the fabric came too low.

This idea of hers worked for two reasons. One reason is the war during that time. During that period of time, there was a shortage of modern traditional attire. This is nothing but more demand, hence more supply. And the second thing is that women are thinking more about their attire, which gives them freedom while wearing it. This strategy of hers worked better, as she bought the raw material at a lower cost and ultimately ended up with good results and profits.

Black dress

This black dress designed by Chanel also made a huge change in the thinking ideology of fashion making. This black dress lies only till the thighs, and this has gone gaga all over the world during that time. As a matter of fame, this was worn by Suzanne Orlandi, who wore this little black dress for the first time in the year 1913.

This little dress also made its presence in the Vogue edition of America, saying that this is the simplest yet beautiful design. With this kind of craze, she started making these kinds of little dresses with different kinds of clothes, namely wool and chenille.

Ornaments

Chanel also made her mark in the field of jewellery design by designing some beautiful conceptual designs. She has introduced that jewelry kind of thing into the world of handbags and all.

Chanel Bag

This Chanel bag has introduced a design that has gone gaga all over the world. She updated this design in the year 1930. In 2005, she released the exact replication of the bag, which has even been released in the world of fashion to commemorate the creation of the bag.

Conclusion

Coco Chanel, mostly known as Gabrielle Bonheur Coco Chanel has made her mark in the fields of designing handbags, fabrics, ornaments, etc. She has had many ups and downs in her career. She has had many controversies over her presence as a spy for Germany during the period of World War II. Her life as a designer has gone very crazy with her trending designs. She with her talent, has managed to be among the top 100 influential people of the 20th century.