Who is Coco Chanel?

We've all probably heard of the brand "Chanel," founded by the world-renowned designer, Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (August 19, 1883 - January 10, 1971).
A major name in fashion, Coco Chanel was a French designer who entered the fashion industry in 1910, as a modiste (hat maker). Throughout her life, Coco would become one of the most influential and famous designers of all time; so prominent, in fact, that she was named on Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century.

Coco's style of clothing was different from many of the time because it was extremely masculine. She, herself, was quite rebellious; she dressed in different ways than other women and used material (jersey) in her designs when in 1916 it was always associated with underwear.

Ignoring the disapproval of many major fashion magazines, Coco maintained a similar wardrobe in her designs each year, feeling no need to change. "Let us beware of originality," she said "in couture it leads to costume."

Coco's clothes were made to be worn; and were, therefore, comfortable. Comfort was a concept that was not used often in clothing created by many male designers of the time. The Chanel suit, collarless, simply cut and simply decorated, is a classic that has maintained in fashion for decades for that very reason.

In 1926, Coco introduced "the little black dress," now considered a staple in any woman's wardrobe. She also wore pants when in Venice to ease travel by gondola, which showed women that pants were not simply a men's clothing item. In 1921, she launched the first ever designer scent: Chanel No 5, and throughout her life created costume jewelry and wore it regularly, for example fake pearls.

The Chanel brand has been able to continue because of Coco's successor, Karl Lagerfeld, who entered the company in 1983. His incredible genius took Chanel to new extremes. However, the name "Coco Chanel" will never be forgotten.

I couldn't have written this article without some help. Thanks a lot to Wikipedia, as well as the book Vogue Fashion: Over 100 Years of Style by Decade and Designer, in Association with Vogue by Linda Watson (I recommend this book for anyone who has an interest in fashion - it's fantastic).