Person attributes
Gabrielle Chanel was born in 1883 (although she herself claimed that she was born 10 years later) in a poor family of a market trader and the daughter of a rural carpenter.
Girls all the time had to wear the same uniform, which was wound up in the orphanage. All the pupils looked faceless and the same. It was then that little Coco began to have her first dreams, in which all the women are beautifully dressed, and she herself does not experience material deprivation.
At the age of 18, the girl left the monastery, where she lived and got a job as an assistant in a linen store. But such a life did not suit her and she decided to go the other way - to become a ballerina or a singer. Auditions did not give the desired result. These times could be called unfortunate. It was necessary to work hard, but they paid little money for this and there was no chance for the dream to come true. But working in a cafe had its advantages. It was there that the future celebrity received her middle name, by which she became known. She often performed in front of visitors with the song "Ko Ko Ri Ko", so the visitors called her Coco. There she made useful contacts.
At 22, Gabrielle Bonheur moved to Paris to work as a milliner. This act can be considered the starting point on the path to real success. After some time, she met Arthur Capel. He was a young, successful businessman. The man found Chanel's aspirations promising and helped her in her endeavors. Together they created a store. In it, the girl sold hats that she invented and sewed herself. The clients were well-known French women.
The design ideas of the owner of the atelier appealed to wealthy customers, a continuous stream of orders based on recommendations helped to repay the loan and achieve financial stability. Coco was able to form a profitable circle of acquaintances very quickly. She was familiar with many representatives of the local bohemia: Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso and other remarkable personalities. Trade was so successful that three years after the start of the Paris Salon (1910), a second one was opened - in Deauville.
It was not in the rules of Gabrielle Boner Chanel to stop there, and she began to reshape fashion. She had ideas for unusual clothes for women. The sketches were unique and even scandalous for a society of that type. The first thing that Coco came up with was made from jersey knit material. No one has ever used this fabric before. The famous black dress appeared a little later, but Chanel laid the foundations of the style even then. Simple silhouettes, graceful lines. The girls liked the elegant minimalism and the designer continued her experiments.
In 1919, a Parisian fashion house was opened. By this time, outfits from Gabrielle Chanel were loved not only in France. Blazers, skirts, sailor suits, long warm sweaters were appreciated in many countries. Two years later, Coco again amazed everyone with another invention. This time, Mademoiselle, already known to everyone, decided to create her own fragrance.
In 1920, Coco met a perfumer who had emigrated from Russia named Ernest Bo. Twelve months later, they presented to the public an original, unlike anything else composition. It consisted of 80 components, among which it was impossible to single out any one. Prior to this fragrance, formulas that mimicked one particular flower were common and quickly weathered. Chanel's Eau De Parfum, on the other hand, was a mixture of notes that gradually unfolded throughout the day. All together they resembled a spring garden. The scent is strong and beautiful.
The bottle, like all the creations of Gabrielle Boner Chanel, looks ascetic against the backdrop of sparkling, intricate perfume containers of that time. A simple glass bottle looked somewhat eccentric. However, this is what the creator wanted. In 1924, they tried to change the form, make it brighter, but the idea was abandoned.
Coco intended to continue the line of perfumes, so she added a sample number to her last name. It was the fifth version of the composition, proposed by Ernest Bo, that she liked.
