The One and Only Coco Chanel

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same" declared the most famous fashion designer in history.  Coco Chanel's name is synonymous with elegance and luxury.  Her story is not only interesting, it's unexpected.  She fits in perfectly with the independent women I love to write about who possessed tenacity.  They never gave up which is why they succeeded.  You may or may not like her story, but you'll have to admit; what a woman!

She was born Gabrielle Bonheur in France, 1883, despite her claim it was 1893.  Her mother died when she was 12 and her father soon abandoned Gabrielle and her five siblings.  She spent the next 6 years of her life at an orphanage and at 18, she left for Moulins and became a cabaret singer.  It was at this time she adopted the name Coco which she said was short for cocotte, French for mistress.

  

It was a suitable name for she had met Étienne Balsan, a young textile heir who let her open her first millinery shop in 1909 on the ground floor of his Parisian apartment.  His friend, Captain Arthur Edward 'Boy' Capel, a wealthy English polo player, financed her new shop in 1910, Chanel Modes at 21 Rue Cambon.  Chanel despised the oversized chapeaux of the day and asked, "How could a brain function normally under all that?".  In defiance, she created the trim boater hat.  Sucess came quickly when celebrated actress Gabrielle Dorziat modelled her hats in a 1912 play.  Clothing was added
in her second boutique in Deauxville, 1913, followed by Chanel-Biarritz in 1915. 

  

Chanel realized early the influence the wealthy and aristocracy would have on her success and wisely chose these affluent resort areas.  There were no casual sporty collections for women when Chanel introduced jackets, jumpers and the popular sailor blouse.  In 1916, she recreated jersey, the material mostly used for men's undergarments.  Her loose fitting three-quarter length jersey overcoat was an instant hit.  Chanel primarily chose the fabric because it was inexpensive and available even in wartime.  However, it was also because she enjoyed wearing her lovers' clothing which she found comfortable.  This idea would help shape her style as Chanel loved to incorporate masculine elements into her designs and created garments that could be worn all day; simple and functional with ease of movement.  

So successful was she that by 1916 the combined staff of her fashion houses totalled 300. It was reported that she paid back her start-up monies despite these being gifts and not loans.  Chanel was often criticized for her work habits; in short, she was a tyrant.  She preferred to work directly with the fabric on a body rather than sketch the design first on paper.  Her models had to stand for long hours and endure repeated alterations.  It's been said that she was particularly obsessed with the sleeves which she wanted to move easily yet still be in line with the garment.  Only attracted to powerful men, she drew inspiration from her many lovers.  The Russian period collection which featured the popular peasant blouse was a product of an affair with Grand Duke Dimitri in 1920.  During her romance with the Duke of Westminster from 1926-31, she adopted tweeds and berets into her collections.

   

The House of Chanel made it's permanent address at 31 rue Cambon across from the Hôtel Ritz in 1919 where, along with Vionnet, she helped create the flapper look while taking it a step further by shortening the hemline.  The boutique offered such innovations as flannel blazers, straight skirts and long jersey sweaters.  The elegant Chanel suit was introduced in 1923 and featured a knee-length skirt with a gold link chain, boxy jacket, braided trim and gold buttons.  

At this time she popularized the "little black dress" which already existed but Chanel set the new standard.  The most versatile of all clothing, it could be worn day and evening when accessorized accordingly.  Chanel claimed the color black "wipes out everything else around...It is the absence of colors which has absolute beauty".  In 1924, her first costume jewelry appeared, a pair of pearl earrings, one black and one white.  She revolutionized the jewelry that was once only bought by those who couldn't afford the real thing.  In 1929, her new slacks were elitist wear but soon women worldwide would embrace the liberating garment.  

It's worthy to note that aside from her slacks worn by actresses like Marlene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn, Hollywood didn't contribute much to her success in the early years the way it did her contemporaries.  In 1929, Studio Head Sam Goldwyn offered Chanel one million dollars to work on three films between 1931-32 provided she made two trips a year to Hollywood.  The Depression had lowered female theater attendance and he thought the latest Parisian fashions would lure them back.  Chanel accepted but she disliked the town.  Not only was she second to the stars, many actresses refused to wear her costumes preferring the sensational to her understated elegance.  It wouldn't be until later in her career that she would attract actresses like Audrey Hepburn who, in 1961's "Breakfast At Tiffany's", truly made the little black dress the mainstay it is today.

 

Within two years of opening at 31 rue Cambon, Chanel's most enduring product line was launched.  Coco claimed she invented Chanel No. 5 in 1919 while on the French Riviera where she had been mourning the sudden death of Boy Capel.  In truth, it was created by perfumer, Ernest Beaux, introduced to Chanel by then lover, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich.  The perfume was a mixture of 128 ingredients with a jasmine base.  (It is unknown whether Chanel used her lucky number five or if it was the test sample number she chose - she loved the intrigue.)  She designed the simple square-cut bottle in contrast to the elaborate decanters of the day.  
 
Theophile Bader (French department store founder, Galeries Lafayette) introduced her to Pierre Wertheimer who agreed to finance Parfums Chanel.  Wertheimer received 70%, Bader 20% and Chanel a meager 10%.  Chanel resented the deal and when renegotiation attempts failed, Wertheimer reminded her that not only did he finance everything, he made her a very wealthy woman.  Indeed, Chanel No. 5 remains the world’s top-selling perfume with ten million bottles sold a year.  Gratitude of course must be paid to Marilyn Monroe who sent sales soaring when she claimed it was all she wore to bed in 1953.  

The grand fashion houses were forced to close at the onset of WWII in 1939.  Though her perfumes and accessories could still be purchased in her boutiques, Chanel retired from fashion and moved into the Hôtel Ritz with Nazi officer Hans Gunther von Dincklage.  At this time she also tried unsuccessfully to wrangle Wertheimer's share in Parfums Chanel under a Nazi law which prohibited Jews from operating a business.  As can be imagined, none of this made her too popular with the Parisians.  She was arrested in 1944 for other alleged Nazi collaborations but was rescued by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a friend she had made through the Duke of Westminster.  During the trial she claimed she wasn't aware of Dincklage's nationality.  Never at a loss for words and feeling she owed no apology for the affair, she quipped to the judge, "Really...a woman of my age cannot be expected to look at his passport if she has a chance of a lover."  The damage was done though and Paris scorned her; Chanel immediately fled to Switzerland with her lover.

Wertheimer had fled to America with his family at the onset of the war and returned to Paris in 1945.  She decided to create her own perfumes in Switzerland which Wertheimer believed infringed on his rights.  To avoid another court battle, they agreed to a $400,000 settlement plus 2% of all sales which she eventually exchanged for a monthly payment she used to support herself.  I suppose the irony here is that Chanel had no other choice but to ask Wertheimer to financially back her re-opening in 1954 which cost her the 10% stake she still had in Parfums Chanel.  Soon after, he bought Bader's 20% share and ended up with everything.  Regardless, the arrangement paid off handsomely in the end for Chanel with the tremendous success of the new House of Chanel.  

Incredibly, at the age of 71, she returned to Paris.  The fashion business, once dominated by women like Vionnet, Lanvin and Schiaparelli had become a man's world led by Dior, Givenchy and Balenciaga.  Her opening on February 5 drew severe criticism and it would take her three years to get back to the top.  Though the Parisians were cold, the British and the Americans loved her collections.  This decade would see her relaunch her Chanel suit and she worked with jeweler Robert Goossens to create a line of costume jewelry to complement her designs.  In February of 1955, she produced the Chanel chain-strapped, quilted leather handbag that is still known as the "2/55" bag.  She ventured into men's fragrances and other great successes included pea jackets and bell bottom pants for women.

 

I just have to mention the "Pink Suit".  Jacqueline Kennedy's pink boucle wool suit trimmed with a navy blue collar was from Chanel's 1961 fall/winter collection.  Kennedy critics were complaining about her expensive French tastes and Jack wanted her to buy American so  on the sneak she had the NY dress salon, Chez Ninon, sew them for her using materials supplied by Chanel Paris.  Though the clothes didn't cost any less the critics were appeased; Jackie had outfoxed them.   

Worn in Dallas, November 22, 1963, she didn’t take the suit off for a day and a night.  When the President's secretary laid out a fresh dress for her, she refused to put it on saying, "Let them see what they've done to Jack."  It has been stored ever since in the National Archives and remains splattered with her husband's blood. 

Today, the House of Chanel is a multi-billion dollar business and is still privately owned by the Wertheimer family.  Karl Lagerfeld has been the chief designer since 1983 successfully combining Chanel's traditional look with innovation.  I think she would have taken pride in the fact that the House of Chanel has sole control over it's brand name and refuses to license it out.  Oh yes, she would be proud indeed.

Main Sources:

Coco Chanel - The Legend and the Life, Justine Picardie, 2010, HarperCollins Publishers

*Other research came from several online and book sources too numerous to list aside from the above.  There are many variations of the truth but once I began researching, a timeline fell into place and it became easier to separate fact from fiction.  I can only hope Ms. Chanel would be pleased with my interpretation of the facts.

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