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She became the mistress of a fascist to save her nephew: unexpected facts from the life of Coco Chanel

'17.02.2022'

Source: LADY.TUT.BY

“I’m not in fashion. I am a fashion myself, ”Coco Chanel said about herself. And it is impossible not to agree with her: it is difficult to imagine a person who would give the fashion world more gifts than she. Little black dress, tweed suit, women's pants, Chanel No. 5 fragrance, bag 2.55 - the list goes on and on, says LADY.TUT.BY.

Photo: Shutterstock

Gabrielle Bonneur Chanel was born in the French town of Saumur in 1883, although she herself claimed that this significant event happened as much as 10 years later. The baby's mother died early, and the father had no time for children. Therefore, at first Gabrielle, along with four siblings, was in the care of relatives, and later the children were sent to an orphanage at the monastery.

There could be no question of a brilliant future. But Gabrielle did not despair and believed that she would succeed: "If you were born without wings, do not prevent them from growing." She decided on her vocation pretty quickly. At the orphanage, she had to wear a very dull uniform, which Gabrielle simply hated. It was then that the girl realized that she would like to dress women beautifully. The nuns taught her how to sew, so the little girl's aspirations were backed up by practical knowledge.

After Gabrielle left the convent, she got a job in a lingerie store, and worked part-time in a cabaret in the evenings. There she got her middle name, which the whole world now knows - Coco. Gabrielle had to perform the then popular song "Ko Ko Ri Ko" hundreds of times, which is where her nickname came from.

In a cabaret, she met her first love - officer Etienne Balsan. The relationship developed rapidly, and now Coco becomes Etienne's companion. Her companion was very wealthy: he lived in a real castle and was engaged in breeding elite horses. Chanel enjoyed an unprecedented luxury for herself, but soon got bored.

- I really lived with Balsan, on Balsan's money, went with him to Paris, slept with him, rode his horses, dressed at his expense, and at the same time did not love him. And he didn't love me. Just a friend, just a spare lover.

However, it was Etienne who persuaded Chanel to leave singing and music, to take up design: “I just helped her put her foot in the stirrup,” he later says.

Numerous friends of Balsan became the first clients of Coco, who very skillfully made stylish hats. Parting with Etienne, Coco was grateful to him: now she was sure that all her childhood dreams would soon come true.

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And her new lover (with whom, by the way, Balsan again introduced her) - the English industrialist and polo player Arthur Capel, nicknamed Boy, will help her in this. Arthur was a business man and was interested not only in the woman herself, but also in her far-reaching plans. To begin with, the lover helps her open a hat shop. And from 1910 to the present day, it has operated at 31 Rue Cambon, opposite the Ritz.

Soon, she opens another store - in Deauville. And now she is not just a hat milliner, but a real designer who sold her branded items and accessories to famous people of that time: directors, artists, writers, actors.

1919 dealt her a crushing blow: her beloved, her faithful companion Arthur Capel dies in a car accident.

“When I lost him, I lost everything. But do not forget that even if you find yourself at the very bottom of grief, if you have nothing left at all, not a single living soul around - you always have a door on which you can knock ... This is work!

Koko cannot keep mourning for him: society did not approve of such antics, because she and Capel had never been married. Then she comes up with a little strict black dress that can be worn during the day and in the evening for dinner. The dress quickly became fashionable, and the American Vogue magazine called it “versatile and popular as a Ford T. Fashion critics were wrong. This dress turned out to be absolutely unique and is still relevant for any occasion.

In addition to the little black dress, Chanel was also the first to invite women to wear pantsuits: this was a real revolution in the fashion world. It turned out that you can look stylish and elegant in trousers.

- I thought of wearing them 20 years ago. I put them on out of modesty - because it seemed to me that wearing a swimsuit on the beach was like walking around naked. After all, after you bathed, but wanted to stay on the beach, putting on trousers is not so difficult. Skirts are ugly, bathrobes are terrible, trousers are the best solution. You can lie in the sand all day long. But it's one thing to wear trousers like this, and quite another, that today 70% of women wear trousers as an evening dress. It is sad. But if you want pants, I will make pants for you. This shows how much I have changed, because even a couple of years ago I said: "To hell with their wishes, let them do what they want, I will not sew pants."

In 1921, Coco created another fashion hit for all time - the perfume "Chanel No. 5". Technically, they were created by perfumer Ernest Bo, who worked for Chanel. The employee suggested that Mademoiselle choose a fragrance from two series of numbered samples (1-5 and 20-24). She rejected everything except the fifth issue. They did not think about the name for a long time: “Chanel No. 5”. Today, in 2020, these are the most famous perfumes in the world. To create them, 80 ingredients are still mixed in varying proportions.

- Perfume is an invisible, but unforgettable, unsurpassed fashion accessory. He notifies about the appearance of a woman and continues to remind of her when she is gone. Women who do not use perfumes are very self-confident women, because the train of correctly selected perfume, which reaches for a beautiful lady, always accompanies the image she creates, playing not the last, and sometimes even the first role in creating this image. Perfume speaks about a woman more than her handwriting, and it should be applied where you want a man to kiss you.

The famous pearl thread is also her find. As well as the tan, which Coco introduced fashion, showing her own after a vacation in Cannes. In general, Coco was the main face of her fashion house. She always looked her 100s: slim, fit, with perfect makeup.

- And so - all her life, - said her assistant Anne-Marie Capbert-Kuazza. - In her 78 years, she never uttered the phrase: "I'm tired." Mademoiselle often repeated: “Listen, my dear, every morning I wake up and the first thing I do is reach out for the blush. I put them on the cheekbones and a little on the tip of the nose. Then I get up, go to the mirror and say to myself: "Darling, you are just a beauty!" She was a role model - an example of a woman who was passionate about her work and never sat idly by. Even today, every morning I remember her words.

Chanel's most famous work as a designer in the 20s was the costumes for Diaghilev's Russian ballet. She creates outfits for the dancers of the Blue Express (1924) directed by Bronislava Nijinska (the curtain was designed by Pablo Picasso himself), and Apollo directed by George Balanchine. She was friends with Igor Stravinsky, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso.

Sergei Diaghilev loved her and was afraid at the same time. He did not understand why Coco, writing him checks for large sums, never asked for anything in return. And Chanel did it because she, too, was helped when she badly needed it. By the way, Chanel was the last person to visit Diaghilev before his death in 1929. She also paid for his funeral on the island of San Michele.

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In the mid-20s, Coco almost became a duchess. The Duke of Westminster, in love with her, will propose to her, to which she will reply: "There were several Duchesses of Westminster, and Chanel was one!" Moreover, their relationship will last six years. A love relationship with the Duke inspired Mademoiselle to create women's tweed suits: a skirt and a jacket. Over the years, this idea transforms a bit and turns into a classic Chanel costume, which even the English queen wears. And the pink Chanel suit on Jackie Kennedy, splattered with the blood of the president, will become the most famous women's outfit in history.

- Falling in love, I have always completely surrendered to my feelings. But when I had to choose between a man and my dresses, I chose dresses. I have always been stronger than my passions; work was like a drug for me. But I doubt that Chanel would have become known to everyone without the help of men ...

The 30s were not easy: first, the economic crisis, and then the Second World War. Chanel closes its stores and dismisses employees: "War is not the time for fashion." The wartime became very dark for Coco. Her nephew was taken prisoner. To free him, Chanel had to bow to the attache of the German embassy, ​​Baron Hans Gunther von Dinklage. The nephew was released at the cost of Chanel becoming the mistress of a high-ranking German and a fascist. It is believed that Koko also supplied the Germans with intelligence information and spied for Germany.

Of course, she was recalled immediately after the end of the war: she was accused of collaboration and was sent under arrest. True, after Churchill's own intervention, the prison was replaced by exile. And until 1953, Chanel will live in Switzerland.

In 1954, she will return to the world of couture, presenting a new collection to the audience. She was greeted with caution, but very soon Coco Chanel herself was again worn on her hands, and Chanel's clothes were on herself. The same tweed suits helped: now with a narrow skirt and a collarless jacket trimmed with braid with golden buttons and patch pockets.

- Coco Chanel had her own method of work. I have never seen her with a pencil in her hands, she just picked out the fabric and started working - right at us. She sewed the models the first time and only then made various changes to them. Sometimes it could take up to fifteen meters of fabric for one thing. At work, Chanel loved to talk: she lit a cigarette and began to talk about her youth, sister, first love, friends, her first trip to the United States, the launch of Chanel No. 5 perfume and much more, ”said one of her employees, Anne-Marie Capbert. Cuazza.

In February 1955, Chanel presented the Chanel 2.55 bag to the audience: “I’m tired of carrying reticules in my hands, and besides, I’m always losing them.” The legendary bag produced by the fashion house today was a small rectangle with a long chain that could be carried over the shoulder. Again, it was an accurate hit on the target. Chanel's customers were delighted.

- I have a wonderful, very beautiful clientele. This is the only thing that I am really proud of. I'm sure no fashion house in France can boast such a clientele. Only the best from all over the world, and I am not shy about talking about it with such confidence. You can check it out yourself: anyone who dresses well dresses here.

Mademoiselle also had her own blacklist. For example, she flatly refused to sew a dress for the movie star Brigitte Bardot. Despite all the money and persuasion of influential friends.

“She considered Bardo completely out of step with the spirit of her home. In the end, we managed to persuade her to meet - it seems to me that Chanel agreed only out of respect for her friend. When Bardot came to the studio, Chanel was just working on my dress. Mademoiselle glanced quickly at the actress and said, "Take off your clothes." Which Bardo did - right before my eyes. Chanel, who had never been silent for a second, looked up - for the first time in her life, she was speechless. Bardot was adorable, and Chanel loved beautiful people. The result is a delicate, translucent black muslin dress. Only Alain Delon once had a similar effect on her - for obvious reasons, - an employee of the fashion house Anne-Marie Kapber-Kuazza will share later.

In recent years, Coco Chanel's business has once again found itself in a dire state. It was all about mini-skirts that the customers wanted to wear, but which Chanel categorically did not want to create.

- I consider them indecent. Completely inappropriate. It's ugly, meaningless and hardly beautiful. And if they understood what their body looks like, they would see that ugly knees are companions of ugly hips, too wide, designed to give birth to children. I have nothing against knees if they are beautiful. But if you stand on Cambon Street for a day, you will hardly see at least one pair of beautiful legs. I never even thought that people have such problems with their legs - concave knees, too thick, bluish. Oh no, this is terrible. I want women to be elegant, to be dressed like women. Now it's a creepy mixture, creepy. Paris is losing its prestige, becoming vulgar. And before he was amazing.

On January 10, 1971, at the age of 87, Gabrielle Chanel died of a heart attack at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, where she had lived for a long time. By this time, the annual income of her empire was nearly $ 200 million. And she herself had only three outfits in her wardrobe. Coco was buried in the Bois-de-Vaux cemetery in Lausanne. After her death, the Chanel fashion house fell into decay. But Karl Lagerfeld, who came there in 1983, managed to revive it and enhance the legacy of the great Mademoiselle. So the name Chanel will remain in the limelight for many years to come.

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