By: Austin Shipley
Date of birth and death:
Born on August 19, 1883
Died on January 10, 1971
•Chanel was born in the
small city of Saumur, France
• She spent 7 years in an
orphanage after her mother
died where she learned the
trade of a seamstress
•Vacations were spent with
relative which of whom
taught her to sew.
•When she turned 18 she left
the orphanage and worked
for a local tailor.
•Chanel died of natural causes on January 10th 1971
•She learned how to sew from the nuns in her orphanage and her family
on vacations.
•Around 20, Chanel became involved with Etienne Balsan who offered to
help her start a millinery business in Paris. She soon left him for one of his
even wealthier friends, Arthur “Boy” Capel.
•In 1910 she opened her first shop on Paris’s Rue Cambon, Chanel started
out selling hats. She later added stores in Deauville and Biarritz and began
making clothes.

In the 1920s, Chanel took her thriving business to new heights. She
launched her first perfume, Chanel No. 5, which was the first to
feature a designer’s name
In 1925, she introduced the now
legendary Chanel suit with collarless
jacket and well-fitted skirt.

Another 1920s revolutionary design
was Chanel’s little black dress


From the age 18 to 20 years old her part time job
was a cabernet singer where she picked up her
nickname “Coco”

Her life story was turned into a Broadway play. The
main star playing Chanel was Katharine Hepburn.

When Chanel was first born her name was
mistakenly spelt “Chasnel” making it almost
impossible for biographers when Chanel later
became famous
In 1895, when
she was 12 years
old, Chanel's
mother died of
tuberculosis and
her father left the
family.
When Coco
turned
eighteen, she
left orphanage,
and became
apart of Circus
of Moulin's as a
cabaret singer
Capel married in
1918, he did not
completely break off
with Chanel. His
death in a car
accident, in late
1919, was the single
most devastating
event in Chanel's life.
In 1939, at the
beginning of
World War II,
Chanel closed
her shops. She
believed that it
was not a time
for fashion
In 1945 she returned to
the fashion world. Her
new collection did not
have much success with
the Parisians because of
her relationship with the
Nazis; However, it was
applauded by the British
and Americans, who
became her faithful
customers

"Chanel - Shop for Chanel at Polyvore." Polyvore. Polyvore. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. <
http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/shop?query=chanel>.

"Coco Chanel." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coco_Chanel>.

"Coco Chanel Biography." Biography.com. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.biography.com/articles/Coco-Chanel-9244165>.

"Coco Chanel - Biography." Women's History - Comprehensive Women's History
Research Guide. Web. 16 Sept. 2011.
<http://womenshistory.about.com/od/chanelcoco/a/coco_chanel.htm>.