Anastasia Frankiv

Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (/ʃəˈnɛl/ shə-NEL; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971)[2] was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style, replacing the "corseted silhouette" that was dominant beforehand. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.[3] A prolific fashion creator, Chanel extended her influence beyond couture clothing, realizing her aesthetic design in jewellery, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product, and Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920s.[4]

During the German occupation of France during World War II, Chanel was criticized for being too close to the German occupiers to boost her professional career; one of Chanel's liaisons was with a German diplomat, Baron (Freiherr) Hans Günther von Dincklage.[5][6] After the war, Chanel was interrogated about her relationship with von Dincklage, but she was not charged as a collaborator due to intervention by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[7] After several post-war years in Switzerland, she returned to Paris and revived her fashion house. In 2011, Hal Vaughan published a book about Chanel based on newly declassified documents, revealing that she had collaborated directly with the Nazi intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst. One plan in late 1943 was for her to carry an SS peace overture to Churchill to end the war.[8]

Early life

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 to Eugénie Jeanne Devolle Chanel, known as Jeanne, a laundrywoman, in the charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence (a poorhouse) in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire.[9]: 14 [10] She was Jeanne's second child with Albert Chanel; the first, Julia, had been born less than a year earlier.[10] Albert Chanel was an itinerant street vendor who peddled work clothes and undergarments,[11]: 27  living a nomadic life, traveling to and from market towns. The family resided in rundown lodgings. In 1884, he married Jeanne Devolle,[9]: 16  persuaded to do so by her family who had "united, effectively, to pay Albert."[9]: 16 

At birth, Chanel's name was entered into the official registry as "Chasnel". Jeanne was too unwell to attend the registration, and Albert was registered as "travelling".[9]: 16  With both parents absent, the infant's last name was misspelled, probably due to a clerical error.

She went to her grave as Gabrielle Chasnel because to correct legally the misspelled name on her birth certificate would reveal that she was born in a poorhouse hospice.[12] The couple had six[13] children—Julia, Gabrielle, Alphonse (the first boy, born 1885), Antoinette (born 1887), Lucien, and Augustin (who died at six months)[13]—and lived crowded into a one-room lodging in the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde.[10]

When Gabrielle was 11,[4][14] Jeanne died at the age of 32.[9]: 18 [10] The children did not attend school.[13] Her father sent his two sons to work as farm laborers and sent his three daughters to the convent of Aubazine, which ran an orphanage. Its religious order, the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Mary, was "founded to care for the poor and rejected, including running homes for abandoned and orphaned girls".[9]: 27  It was a stark, frugal life, demanding strict discipline. Placement in the orphanage may have contributed to Chanel's future career, as it was where she learned to sew. At age eighteen, Chanel, too old to remain at Aubazine, went to live in a boarding house for Catholic girls in the town of Moulins.[8]: 5 

Later in life, Chanel would retell the story of her childhood somewhat differently; she would often include more glamorous accounts, which were generally untrue.[10] She said that when her mother died, her father sailed for America to seek his fortune, and she was sent to live with two aunts. She also claimed to have been born a decade later than 1883 and that her mother had died when she was much younger than 11.[15][16

Battle for control of Parfums Chanel

Signature scent of the House of Chanel, Chanel No. 5

Sleeping with the Enemy, Coco Chanel and the Secret War written by Hal Vaughan further solidifies the consistencies of the French intelligence documents released by describing Coco as a "vicious antisemite" who praised Hitler.[37]

World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of Parfums Chanel, the Wertheimers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an "Aryan" to petition German officials to legalize her claim to sole ownership.

On 5 May 1941, she wrote to the government administrator charged with ruling on the disposition of Jewish financial assets. Her grounds for proprietary ownership were based on the claim that Parfums Chanel "is still the property of Jews" and had been legally "abandoned" by the owners.[24]: 150 [33]

She wrote:

I have an indisputable right of priority ... the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business ... are disproportionate ... [and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years.[24]: 152–53 

Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews had, in May 1940, legally turned control of Parfums Chanel over to Félix Amiot, a Christian French businessman and industrialist. At war's end, Amiot returned "Parfums Chanel" to the hands of the Wertheimers.[24]: 150 [33]

During the period directly following the end of World War II, the business world watched with interest and some apprehension the ongoing legal wrestle for control of Parfums Chanel. Interested parties in the proceedings were cognizant that Chanel's Nazi affiliations during wartime, if made public knowledge, would seriously threaten the reputation and status of the Chanel brand. Forbes magazine summarized the dilemma faced by the Wertheimers: [it is Pierre Wertheimer's worry] how "a legal fight might illuminate Chanel's wartime activities and wreck her image—and his business."[24]: 175 

Chanel hired René de Chambrun, Vichy France Prime Minister Pierre Laval's son-in-law, as her lawyer to sue Wertheimer.[41] Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, renegotiating the original 1924 contract. On 17 May 1947, Chanel received wartime profits from the sale of Chanel No. 5, an amount equivalent to some nine million dollars in twenty-first century valuation. Her future share would be two percent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide. The financial benefit to her would be enormous. Her earnings were projected at $25 million a year, making her one of the richest women in the world at the time. In addition, Pierre Wertheimer agreed to an unusual stipulation proposed by Chanel herself; Wertheimer agreed to pay all of Chanel's living expenses—from the trivial to the large—for the rest of her life.[24]: 175–77 [42]

Last years

According to Edmonde Charles-Roux,[11]: 222  Chanel had become tyrannical and extremely lonely late in life. In her last years she was sometimes accompanied by Jacques Chazot and her confidante Lilou Marquand. A faithful friend was also the Brazilian Aimée de Heeren, who lived in Paris four months a year at the nearby Hôtel Meurice. The former rivals shared happy memories of times with the Duke of Westminster. They frequently strolled together through central Paris.[50]

Death

As 1971 began, Chanel was 87 years old, tired, and ailing. She carried out her usual routine of preparing the spring catalogue. She had gone for a long drive on the afternoon of Saturday, 9 January. Soon after, feeling ill, she went to bed early.[24]: 196  She announced her final words to her maid which were: "You see, this is how you die."[51]

She died on Sunday, 10 January 1971, at the Hotel Ritz, where she had resided for more than 30 years.[52]

Her funeral was held at the Église de la Madeleine; her fashion models occupied the first seats during the ceremony and her coffin was covered with white flowers—camellias, gardenias, orchids, azaleas and a few red roses. Salvador Dalí, Serge Lifar, Jacques Chazot, Yves Saint Laurent and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild attended her funeral in the Church of the Madeleine. Her grave is in the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery, Lausanne, Switzerland.[53][54]

Most of her estate was inherited by her nephew André Palasse, who lived in Switzerland, and his two daughters, who lived in Paris.[41]

Although Chanel was viewed as a prominent figure of luxury fashion during her life, Chanel's influence has been examined further after her death in 1971. When Chanel died, the first lady of France, Mme Pompidou, organized a hero's tribute. Soon, damaging documents from French intelligence agencies were released that outlined Chanel's wartime involvements, quickly ending her monumental funeral plans.[37]

The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in space travel and the technological innovation driving it. Billionaire space tourists Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson made the headlines in 2021, while Elon Musk has his sights set on the colonization of Mars.

However, it's worth remembering that these high-flying schemes often end up affecting our lives in more down-to-Earth ways – scratch-resistant glass, GPS, LEDs, memory foam, and heat-resistant metals have changed the way we live and were all developed thanks to space exploration. Many of the principles of remote medicine – which has surged in popularity during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic – were initially conceived to assist with space travel. And there’s no telling how many lives have been saved by smoke and carbon monoxide detectors – also first conceived as space technology!

So, where will space travel take us in 2022? Let's take a look at some of the most exciting implications of humanity continuing to venture beyond the final frontier …The past decade has seen a resurgence of interest in space travel and the technological innovation driving it. Billionaire space tourists Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson made the headlines in 2021, while Elon Musk has his sights set on the colonization of Mars.

Something of a holy grail for space travel at the moment, reusable launch systems for orbital vehicles are set to dramatically lower the cost of leaving Earth’s atmosphere, opening the doors to many exciting space initiatives which, while theoretically possible, are currently too expensive to be practical. It will also make routine space missions, such as launching satellites and resupplying the International Space Station, far more economical. SpaceX’s SN20 will attempt to launch the first successful orbital flight using a reusable rocket in early 2022, pending approval from the US FAA. SN20 is the most powerful rocket ever built, and is the craft that SpaceX hope will eventually take humans to Mars

Later in the year, Blue Origin will attempt to launch its reusable two-stage New Glenn rocket into low Earth orbit – this rocket is designed to be used up to 25 times and eventually will carry humans as well as cargo.

Back to the moon!

Travel to the moon has not been top of the space exploration agenda for the past few decades, but that has changed as a number of strategic reasons to resume lunar landings have been identified in recent years. Mostly these will not call for humans to visit the barren satellite and will be conducted by autonomous landers and exploration vehicles. One key reason for the renewed interest is that it is thought it will be a good testbed for many technologies that will eventually help us make our way to Mars.

The focus of these missions will be on sending "small payloads," mainly autonomous instruments designed to locate, extract and process elements from the lunar surface. As well as the US, which is planning to launch its Commercial Lunar Payload Services mission – a collaboration between NASA and Astrobotic Technology, Russia, Japan, and India all plan to deliver robotic landers to the lunar surface during 2022.

Satellites

Satellite launches make up the majority of commercial space activity, and that won't change as we go into 2022. The big drivers of increased activity in this field are the ever-falling cost of putting satellites into orbit and the growing number of use cases for the data they can provide. GPS and satellite imagery is an essential tool for many aspects of day-to-day life, and new uses – for example, tackling pandemics – are emerging all the time.

Satellites are becoming smaller and lighter, meaning that even start-ups can now take advantage of the technological capabilities. In fact, reports in recent years have found that the cost to a business of launching a satellite is becoming comparable to launching an app. China's Galaxy Space has developed and launched 1,000 small satellites into space for its customers in industries including aviation, marine, and vehicle manufacturing. Meanwhile, another Chinese company, ADA Space, is planning a network of 192 satellites that will use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to provide live streaming satellite imagery of the Earth.

Another sign that satellites are becoming cheaper and more accessible can be seen in the world’s first fully 3D-printed satellites, that Australian manufacturer Fleet Space Technologies says it will launch into orbit in 2022. These satellites are primarily designed to provide communications and connectivity solutions for the internet of things (IoT) devices that are quickly being adopted in homes and businesses around the world.

Cleaning up our mess

One worrying side effect of space exploration is that we might end up making as much of a mess of the rest of the universe as we have done of our own home planet. It’s estimated that there are already up to 8,000 tons of debris from previous space missions and now-defunct satellites floating in Earth’s orbit. These potentially pose a hazard to future space missions, where collisions could be catastrophic, but also threaten to interfere with many of the space services we rely on, such as weather forecasts and GPS.

With that in mind, it’s reassuring that we are already starting to think about clearing up after ourselves as we explore beyond the boundaries of Earth’s atmosphere. Launched this year, the ELSA-d (End Of Life Services by Astroscale-Demonstration) mission aims to clean up debris that will be left in space by future space missions. It does this using magnets to grab floating debris and push them towards Earth, where it will burn up in the outer layers of the atmosphere. Another waste disposal spacecraft, called RemoveDebris, will use nets to capture floating junk, while the European Space Agency is working on plans to launch a “self-destructing robot” with the specific aim of destroying a 100-kilogram piece of space debris left behind from a previous mission.

Space technology vs. climate change

Space technology is specifically recognized as one of the keys to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 set out by the United Nations. A great example is the reflective materials originally developed to conserve heat in spacecraft, which are now commonly used to insulate buildings on Earth. This means that world governments are increasingly investing in space innovation with the primary purpose of tackling challenges caused by climate change on Earth. And with a growing awareness of the importance of decarbonization and limiting global warming among businesses, it's becoming an active focus of enterprise activity too.

One of these initiatives is MethaneSat, designed to identify and track sources of methane emissions on Earth. This is vital, as according to the IPCC, methane emissions alone are accountable for around half of the rise in global temperature since the start of the industrial era.

The UK space agency has recently announced funding for a number of projects that will get underway next year, including one spearheaded by Global Satellite Vu aimed at using infra-red cameras on satellites to monitor the level of thermal emissions from homes and businesses. Another project named TreeView, established by the Open University and funded by the UK Space Agency, will use satellite imagery to map tree cover and track deforestation, in relation to the ability of trees to assist with carbon sequestration and storage.

Historical architecture

Seoul has many historical and cultural landmarks. In Amsa-dong Prehistoric Settlement Site, Gangdong District, neolithic remains were excavated and accidentally discovered by a flood in 1925.[105]

Urban and civil planning was a key concept when Seoul was first designed to serve as a capital in the late 14th century. The Joseon dynasty built the "Five Grand Palaces" in Seoul – Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Gyeongbokgung and Gyeonghuigung – all of which are located in Jongno and Jung Districts. Among them, Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 as an "outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design". The main palace, Gyeongbokgung, underwent a large-scale restoration project.[106] The palaces are considered exemplary architecture of the Joseon period. Beside the palaces, Unhyeongung is known for being the royal residence of Regent Daewongun, the father of Emperor Gojong at the end of the Joseon Dynasty.

Seoul has been surrounded by walls that were built to regulate visitors from other regions and protect the city in case of an invasion. Pungnap Toseong is a flat earthen wall built at the edge of the Han River, which is widely believed to be the site of Wiryeseong. Mongchon Toseong (Korean: 몽촌토성; Hanja: 蒙村土城) is another earthen wall built during the Baekje period that is now located inside the Olympic Park.[24] The Fortress Wall of Seoul was built early in the Joseon dynasty for protection of the city. After many centuries of destruction and rebuilding, about 2⁄3 of the wall remains, as well as six of the original eight gates. These gates include Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun, commonly known as Namdaemun (South Great Gate) and Dongdaemun (East Great Gate). Namdaemun was the oldest wooden gate until a 2008 arson attack, and was re-opened after complete restoration in 2013.[107] Located near the gates are the traditional markets and largest shopping center, Namdaemun Market and Dongdaemun Market.

There are also many buildings constructed with international styles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Independence Gate was built in 1897 to inspire an independent spirit. Seoul Station was opened in 1900 as Gyeongseong Station.

Seoul (/soʊl/, like soul; Korean: 서울 [sʰʌ̹uɭ] (audio speaker iconlisten); lit. 'Capital'), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.[9] Seoul has a population of 9.7 million people, and forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area with the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province. Considered to be a global city and rated as an Alpha – City by Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC), Seoul was the world's 4th largest metropolitan economy in 2014 after Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles. International visitors generally reach Seoul via AREX from Incheon International Airport, notable for having been rated the best airport for nine consecutive years (2005–2013) by Airports Council International. In 2015, it was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis, with the GDP per capita (PPP) in Seoul being around $40,000. In 2017, the cost of living in Seoul was ranked the 6th highest globally. In 2020, Seoul's real estate market was ranked 3rd in the world for the price of apartments in the downtown center.[13] Seoul was one of the host cities for the official tournament of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, which was co-hosted by South Korea and Japan.

With major technology hubs centered in Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area is home to the headquarters of 15 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung,[15] LG, and Hyundai. Ranked seventh in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences. Seoul has hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 G20 Seoul summit.

Seoul was the capital of various Korean states, including Baekje, Joseon, the Korean Empire, Goryeo (as a secondary capital), and presently South Korea. Strategically located along the Han River, Seoul's history stretches back over two thousand years, when it was founded in 18 BC by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The city was later designated the capital of Korea under the Joseon dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by a mountainous and hilly landscape, with Bukhan Mountain located on the northern edge of the city. The Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. More recently, Seoul has been a major site of modern architectural construction – major modern landmarks include the N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, Trade Tower, COEX, and the IFC Seoul. Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. It is the birthplace of K-pop and the Korean wave.