STYLE ICON: COCO CHANEL

Coco by Park Avenue Prep

This is the first of my Style Icon series. I am hoping to identify those individuals who have really influenced my style and passion for elegance. I do hope you enjoy!

Coco Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in 1883. The daughter of a poor French family lived in an orphanage and learned the trade of a seamstress. She was nicknamed Coco when she briefly sang in cafes and concert halls. Realizing singing was not her forte, Coco began designing women’s clothing utilizing her seamstress skills. Known for her trendsetting, Coco was the first designer to use jersey for her women’s wear line, making the popular but extremely uncomfortable corset obsolete.

During the early 1920s, Coco established Maison Chanel, her design house and showroom at 31, rue Cambon in Paris (I recommend you visit if you are in Paris). Chanel maintains its headquarters there to this day with its original Coco Chanel furnishings. In 1922, Coco launched the fragrance Chanel No. 5, making Coco the first designer to also sell perfume bearing the same title. Number 5 was selected after Coco met with a psychic who told her 5 was her lucky number.

Coco Chanel went on to design and establish several more fashion trends including the signature cardigan jacket (1925), the Little Black Dress or LBD (1926), pea jackets and bell-bottoms (1954). Style icons (which will be featured in the future) including Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly soon became few of several Chanel admirers due to the designer’s trendsetting fashions.

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 1923, Coco Chanel stated, "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance." She established a signature style including quilted handbags, pea jacket, layered pearls, and a fabulous Chanel No. 5 scent that are every Park Avenue Prep’s wardrobe must-haves. Coco Chanel's humble beginnings, perseverance, and perpetual style afford her the title of Style Icon.

Source: www.thebiographychannel.co.uk