Happy Birthday, Coco Chanel: 9 lesser known facts about the style icon
STYLE celebrates Coco Chanel’s birthday with a look at some lesser known facts about the fashion figurehead
Coco Chanel once said: “Fashion changes but style endures.” Chanel still has a heavy influence on the fashion world nearly 46 years after her death. Tomorrow is the style icon’s birthday, and we’re celebrating it with a look at some lesser known facts about the prolific French fashion designer and businesswoman, who is listed by TIME magazine among the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
Coco came from cabaret
“Coco” is the nickname, possibly given to her when she sang in a cabaret, based on two popular songs.
She flew solo
Coco was 12 years old when she last saw her father. After her mother died of tuberculosis, aged 32, her father sent his two sons out to work as farm labourers, and his three daughters to an orphanage run by a convent. Coco never saw him again.
She started with hats
She took her first steps in the fashion world by designing hats, and opened her first shop in Paris, creating hats under the name of Chanel Modes. She learned to sew, embroider and iron during her six years in the Aubazine shelter orphanage.