‘I don’t do fashion. I am fashion’: 19 of Coco Chanel’s quotes on style, fragrances, looking good and living well to celebrate the French legend’s birthday – and her legacy with the luxury brand
- Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, who created her own style and timeless classics such as the N°5 fragrance and two-piece tweed suit, was born on August 19, 1833 in France and would have been 140 this year
- She spent her early years at an orphanage, then worked as a seamstress and stage performer – and had plenty to say on any topic, from dressing, shoes and make-up to ageing and destiny
Happy Birthday, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel! To mark what would have been the legendary fashion designer’s 140th birthday, we revisit some of her most iconic quotes, which still inspire us today.
Chanel was born on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France and died at the age of 87 at the Ritz hotel in Paris.
Before establishing her namesake fashion house on Paris’ Rue Cambon, her earlier years were spent in the Aubazine Abbey orphanage and then, later on, simultaneously working as a seamstress and stage performer.
Here are 19 of Mademoiselle Chanel’s most memorable and outspoken quips on ageing to fashion and fragrances.
“Fashion changes, but style endures.”
“I don’t do fashion. I am fashion.”
“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”