Gabrielle, later Coco, Chanel was born in 1883 in the poorhouse in which her mum worked. This humble environment, which she was supposed to famously imprecise about, characterized her early life.

Gabrielle’s mum died when she was still a kid, and she was just about deserted by her dad who was a travelling sales representative. She went into the orphanage of the Catholic priory of Aubazine, and that was here that she learned the trade of a seamstress from the nuns.

The nuns even lined up work as a seamstress for the young Gabrielle, but she denied this trail and instead tried to make a vocation as a frontman in cafeterias.

It was in this quick flirtation with show-business that she bought the nickname Coco, and the relations she formed there, especially her relationship with lothario Etienne Balsan, finally meant she had the finances to head off to Paris and open her very own shop.

Another acquaintance of Coco’s backed her growth from hats to attire, and sponsored the opening of shops in the tidal resorts of Deauville and Biarritz.

Nevertheless her outstanding success from this point was down to her talent and difficult work. Her designs caught the public’s attention and the shops quickly expanded. She was the 1st designer to use jersey in the 1920s and her attire were amazingly favored by girls bored with corseted fashions, attracted to the more manlike fashions favoured by Chanel.

The launch of Chanel No five, the 1st perfume to be named after a designer, and a big boost to her brand in addition to her classic small black dress, sealed her success, and she became possibly the most vital figure in the history of twentieth century fashion.