Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel (1883-1971), nicknamed Coco, was a world-renowned fashion designer. She revolutionized women's fashion, but her life was not strewn with roses. In 1905, she performed in “La Rotonde” café in the evenings. There she sang a song about a cat that disappeared on the roofs of Paris “Qui qu’a vu Coco.” Thanks to this song, Gabrielle gained fame among the officers and artists visiting the café and quickly found her way into the French elite, where she was first called “Coco.” The youthful friendships made in the café “La Rotonde” opened Coco's doors to the big world. 1)
Coco was an illegitimate child who spent six years in an orphanage. She later grew up under the tutelage of her aunt, trained as a seamstress. She set up her first store in Paris, soon followed by her first collection of clothes dedicated to working people. 2)
She founded the Rue Cambon fashion house in 1919 - simultaneously with the Chanel brand. She soon made her fortune with the perfume series Chanel No. 5. It was 1922 and during the interwar period, she was employing about 3500 people. 3)
In 1939, Coco Chanel withdrew by closing down her business. In 1940 she found herself in Vichy before returning to Paris, where she spent the rest of the war in the Ritz Hotel, enjoying the company of high-ranking Germans, including the diplomat - and her lover - Hans Günther von Dincklage. After the Allied victory, she emigrated to Switzerland. She returned in 1954. 4)
As a result of an unsuccessful abortion, she was infertile for the rest of her life, which she could not come to terms with. 5)
Coco Chanel's life was defined by one paradox, namely, it was a string of professional successes and a string of failures in private life. 6)