When we think about Coco Chanel, we think about a woman who launched the first perfume with a designer name (Chanel no. 5), which would also become one of the most popular perfumes of all time. Coco also showed women that there was more to (lingerie) life than corsets, because “fashion is a luxury and luxury should be comfortable”. Cheers to that! Especially since corsets were extremely not-comfortable in those days. She was also the first designer who believed that black could be very classy in a time where black was related to grief and mourning. Now Coco was a woman with a very strong will of her own. So in the 1920s she designed that lovely Little Black Dress that probably hangs in the (imaginary walk-in) closet of a lot of women who read this. Not only her designs, but also her appearance was always glamorous yet minimalistic. However, her life didn’t start glamorous at all…

Coco Chanel was born as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in 1883 in Saumur, France. Coco grew up in very poor circumstances. Her mother died when Coco was very young and her father could not raise her, so she was put in an orphanage. Here she was raised by nuns who learned her how to sew. And she could sew alright. Those sewing skills would later make her one of the most influential fashion designers of all time. Like every other person, she also had a lot of burdens to overcome in her personal life. However, whether positive or negative, experiences will always give you something valuable: wisdom. Coco didn’t let the bad times weaken her spirit. She moved forward and continued to revolutionize the fashion world with for example high-class jewelry and handbags. She was also way ahead of her times. Not just as a fashion designer, but also as a woman with a mind and opinion of her own. No matter what happened, she always stayed true to her (honest) self.
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