Chanel : Her Style And Her Life

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Coco Chanel; her name is synonymous with luxury and elegance3. But little Gabrielle Chanel was raised4 in an orphanage and schooled in a con-vent—having lost her mother and been virtually abandoned by her father. She picked up the nickname Coco when she was a young cabaret5 singer—" Ko Ko Rik Ko" ("Cock-a-doodle-do") being the only song she could sing. Those early years of deprivation6 fueledher lifelong pursuits of strong, and more famously, high fashion.
After she spent years making her own clothes, hats were the first Chanel designs to earn her some recognition and a little bit of money. Bankrolled8 by a wealthy boyfriend—her first of many—and worn by famous opera singers, the hats—which liberated women from the complicated and extravagantly festooned headgear of the early 1900s9—were the first of Chanel's many successful fashion innovations.
She borrowed heavily from men's closets to make comfortable suits for work-ing women10. She pioneered pants as eveningwear for women and invented clothing that could be worn during the day and into the night. As her design empire ...
... and fame grew, so did Coco Chanel's social circle. Igor Stravinsky, the duke of Westminster, Salvador Dali, and Jean Cocteau numbered among her most intimate friends, while Princess Grace and countless Hollywood stars and European royalty were devoted to her clothes.
Supermodel Kate Moss stars in the Chanel Coco Mademoiselle ad campaign. Yesterday, Coco Mademoiselle became the first fragrance in history to win the prestigious" FiFi award in every country in a single year.
In an unprecedented evening, Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel capped off a year of gold medal performances at the 30th annual Fragrance Foundation FiFi awards, bringing home top honors for Best Women's Fragrance Introduction of the Year.
This win marks the sixth FiFi awarded this year to Coco Mademoiselle, which launched in April 2001 , and the first time in history that a fragrance has won the FiFi in all countries in a single year. It was the Prestige Fragrance FiFi winner in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Great Britain, and the European Star of the Year.
The FiFi's are considered to be the "Oscars" 13of the fragrance industry. Winners are selected by the 1 ,000 members of the Fragrance Foundation as well as retailers and press. The U. S. FiFi's were hosted1* by Annette Green, president of the Fragrance Foundation , and Tommy Tune , Broadway choreograph¬er15 and dancer. Celebrity16 presenters included Gene Simmons, Li'l Kim, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Debbie Gibson, Candace Bushnell, Carol Alt and Elaine Stritch.
Coco Chanel Mademoiselle was created by Jacques Polge, Chanel master perfumer, who was challenged with the task of creating a fragrance that Mademoiselle Coco Chanel herself would wear if she were turning 21 in the 21 st century. The result is this new original that combines a fresh oriental with a sparkling top note, rich spicy accents and warm, spicy musk.
Chanel : Her Style and Her Life combines large black-and-white photos of the designer, her clothes and jewelry, and her lavishly decorated homes with the story of her life.