Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883 - 1971)

Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, born on August 19, 1883, was probably the most influential fashion designer of the modern era. Her mother died when she was only six and her father left her and her five siblings with relatives. "Coco", as she was known, started out making hats, first in the wealthy seaside resort of Deauville, and then in Paris in 1910. Soon wealthy women began buying her hats (especially the ones draped with feather boas), which enabled her to design clothes. She liked soft fabrics like wool jersey, which women had been using for underwear, but when made into dresses, they looked much better without corsets. This was a huge change in women's fashion; women had worn some type of corset for almost 400 years. Gone were the frills, bows, ribbons, and fluffy trim. Instead, critics said, her designs made women look like "little boys."

In 1922, she launched a new perfume she called Chanel No. 5. Even today, almost 100 years later, it is still one of the most popular fragrances in the world. In 1925 she introduced a woman's suit jacket with simple, straight lines and the famous "little black dress" in 1926, a fashion item that women still feel that they must have in their wardrobe. Other styles she perfected included hats like turbans, jumpers, turtleneck sweaters, blazers, sling pumps, trench coats, gypsy skirts. When she singed the ends of her hair with a hot curling iron, she cut her hair short in a "bob" and suddenly everyone had to imitate her.

The clothes she designed were elegant but not stuffy, and in fact were both comfortable and flattering to women of many different sizes. "Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only," she said. "Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening." She designed ready to wear clothing and one-of-a-kind outfits for royalty. She was friends with a number of important artists of the time including Dali and Picasso, who described her as "the most sensible woman in the world." Chanel is responsible for designing the original bell bottom pants that were so popular in the 1970s. She designed jewelry and fabrics, as well as costumes for the theatre and movies. Although Coco Chanel died in Paris on January 10, 1971, her influence on modern fashion continues through the designers who work for "Maison Chanel," the company she founded. "I shall dress thousands of women," she said and she was right.