Coco Chanel

What is a Nonconformist?

• In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men,-- that is genius," (Emerson). Emerson also goes on to say that, "Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist," (Emerson).

What is a Nonconformist?

• A nonconformist is someone who doesn't conform to the norm of everyday society and people. A non conformist is someone that isn't afraid to do things their way and be different from everyone else in the world.

Who is Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel?

• Born on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France ("Coco Chanel." Europe).
• Put in orphanage at young age after her mother died and her father ran away (Sischy).
• Went to a boarding school in Moulins, run by nuns (De la Haye).
• Never advanced her education after the boarding school.

Who is Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel?

• While with the nuns, she was taught how to sew; this essentially is where fashion entered her life (De la Haye).
• She had a somewhat tough personality. When she had a vision for something, she wanted it done. She was known for having low wages and not the best working conditions for the time period (Wallis).

Contribution to Fashion

• Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel is debatably one of the most well known fashion designers of all time. With her modern ideas and designs, she changed the fashion world. She did things in her time period that were unheard of, like wear sportswear or wear two different earrings paired together. She used her connections to become involved in the wealthy community.

Contribution to Fashion

• Her business started off as just a hat business, but later developed into a top of the market brand that sells hats, shoes, clothes, perfume, jewelry, and purses at a high cost from 1913 straight into World War 2. Her business shut down during the war after her reputation was tarnished while she dated a Nazi officer. (De la Haye).

Contribution to Fashion

• After years of self exile to Switzerland, she later picked back up at the age of 70 in 1953, when she reopened her brand. The fashion icon still continues to live on until today and is one of the most successful high end brands in the world. Chanel revolutionized the fashion world with her new cuts of fabric and simplistic designs hinted with masculinity. ("Coco Chanel." Business).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Simply everything Chanel did was nonconformity. Whether it was the bobbed haircut she received in a time period where that wasn’t necessarily accepted or they way she wore mismatched earrings on purpose, it was all out of the norm. (De la Haye).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• She was one of the biggest nonconformist in fashion, “In the 1920s, she introduced comfortable, simplistic designs that stood in stark contrast to the popular designs that incorporated numerous frills & ruffles. In the 1950s, she freed women from the trends toward tight fitting, uncomfortable clothing and returned them to elegance and functionality,” (“Coco Chanel.” Business).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Coco had nonconformist tendencies when it came down to perfume as well, “She also designed the simple square shaped bottle for her new perfume, a drastic change from the fancy bottles on the market,” (“Coco Chanel.” Business).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Her personal life as well as her personal style proved to be different from the norm as well. Chanel started the trend of attending social events while wearing pants, this was not very common until she came along, ("Coco Chanel." Business).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Along with the pants, she is also the inventor of the “little black dress.” Wearing black was simply a funeral color until she decided it should be an everyday kind of color and designed the black dresses. (“Coco Chanel.” Business).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• One could say that Chanel’s influence on fashion changed the entire fashion world, not just in France, “Chanel led the international trend toward shorter hemlines,” (De La Haye). Her designs weren’t the only way she expressed nonconformity in her life. Her personal style happened to be out of the ordinary and looked down upon.

Why is she a nonconformist?

• She would wear loose trousers, which defied the etiquette that restricted women from this time period to wear trousers on the beach or as pajamas. (De La Haye). Coco Chanel was a nonconformist in every sense of the definition. She did not conform to the regular people whether it was in her personal life, style, designs or life choices.

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Her personal style happened to be out of the ordinary and looked down upon. She would wear loose trousers, which defied the etiquette that restricted women from this time period to wear trousers on the beach or as pajamas. (De La Haye).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Coco Chanel was a nonconformist in every sense of the definition. She did not conform to the regular people whether it was in her personal life, style, designs or life choices.

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Even though Chanel was a nonconformist, the normal people eventually conform to the nonconformist and it will become the new norm, “The irony is, that in her desire to be different, Chanel created a trend that was copied by everyone. She became that which she rebelled against,” (“Coco Chanel.” Business).

Why is she a nonconformist?

• Even though nonconformists stick out at the time, the people around them conform to the new norm, established by the original nonconformists.

Legacy

• Chanel is still a highly respected and looked at brand of clothing, perfume, shoes and many more.
• She created the "little black dress," that is still around today.
• Chanel left behind an estate of over $90 million in today's money, ("Coco Chanel." Business).
• First perfume to bear a designer’s name, (De la Haye).

References

• "Coco Chanel." Business Leader Profiles for Students. Ed. Sheila Dow and Jaime E. Noce. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Biography in Context. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

References

• "Coco Chanel." Europe Since 1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of War and Reconstruction. Ed. John Merriman and Jay Winter. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2007. Biography in Context. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

References

• Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Self-Reliance.” The American Reader. Ed. Diane Ravitch. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2000. 106-111. Print. De la Haye, Amy. "Coco Chanel." Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion. Ed. Valerie Steele. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. Biography in Context. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.

References

• Sischy, Ingrid. “Coco Chanel.” Artists & Entertainers. Ed. Kelly Knauer. New York: TIME Books, 1998. 102-105. Print. Wallis, Jeremy. Coco Chanel. Chicago: Heinemann Library, 2002. Print.