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History of Women In Business
If you are a woman, chances are you have heard of Coco
Chanel. Whether you have heard of her because of her popularization of
the ‘little black dress’ or her other famous clothing, purse and
jewelry designs or perhaps you are familiar with her perfume, it
doesn’t matter how you know the name, but are you familiar with her
story?
Born in 1883, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel was raised in a French
orphanage. The simple, stark outfits that the nuns wore had great
influence on Chanel. Though she was not raised with ways of the
wealthy, in 1912, she met a man by the name of Arthur Capel a wealthy
man who in turn helped Chanel open her first hat store in 1913. But her
first real break came in the 1920’s when she opened her now famous
store at 31 rue Cambon.
Her designs were vastly different from any other type of clothing
that was available during that time. The short, squarish suits, little
black dresses and boyish looking outfits differed greatly from the
dresses with tight fitting corsets with petticoats. In 1922, Chanel
introduced her perfume to France and ‘the little black dress’ in
1926. As years went by, she became more popular with people who could
afford her designs.
In 1931, Chanel was hired by director Samuel Goldwyn to dress his
stars, where she designed costumes for several movies, though this
stint did not last due to creative differences. During World War 2,
although the Nazi occupation of France caused some disruption to her
and the couture house, she regained popularity during the 1950’s until
her death in 1971.
Chanel went on to prove during her life time that, innovation,
creativity and a little risk went a long way. One of her common quotes
is: "Fashion is not simply a matter of clothes. Fashion is in the air,
born upon the wind. One intuits it. It is in the sky and on the
road." She took a chance in business and she succeeded!
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