Who's a famous French designer? Her name is CoCo Chanel.

She is a very well-known lady for her trademark suits and little black dress. She was a huge advocate for looking fabulous while being comfortable. Coco created timeless pieces that could be paired with elegant accessories such as a long string of pearls. She was extremely popular then and is still prevalent today.

Although, her styles were tremendous her early life was everything but that. After her mother had passed away her father put her in an orphanage. While her time there she was taught how to sew by nuns she had been raised by—a talent that would affect the rest of her life. She later became a singer with the nickname “coco.” After her time as a singer Coco joined with Etienne Balsan who offered to help start her business in Paris. In her twenties she opened up her own shop and sold hats. She, then, began to open up other shops selling clothes. Coco’s first success with these stores had been by selling a dress out of an old jersey.

In the 1920s she took this fame to launch her first perfume. This was the first time a designers name was on the bottle. It had become very popular, but a deal had been made were Chanel would only make ten percent of the profit. So, she started to make clothes again in 1925. This is the time the brilliant little black dress came alive. This was a bold move picking a color like black because black symbolized mourning. For example, a bright yellow meaning happy and dark blue meaning sad. Coco wanted to prove to people that that’s not the only thing it means, it can be very chic when going out at night.

As the 1930s approached the great depression hit and forced her to fire her employees and close all of her stores. Much had gone on at this time and at the age of seventy she made a triumphant return in the fashion industry. With her simple and feminine looks she soon amazed people all over the world.

It’s hard to imagine starting out as an orphan to being one of the most famous designers even today. It really shows that were you start doesn’t have to affect were you end. I love her idea of being comfortable but stylish because I think that’s what we all really want, right girls? Today, even though, we don’t dress as nice as they did back then we still really thrive to be comfortable. For me especially I wear leggings or shorts and a t-shirt about four or five times a week. I only wish I could wear her little black dress