I originally wanted to write a quick inspirational article with some of my favourite Coco Chanel Quotes for kick-ass girls, which I did. The more I learned, the more freaking fascinated I became. She lived a life full of twists and turns that seemed more like fiction than fact.
She just might be the embodiment of a renaissance woman, except for that Nazi period during World War II and that part about her being anti-Semitic. And unless a woman came from a wealthy family, her best chance in life meant marrying well, performing on a stage or having an affair with a wealthy man.
Although Coco had a string of male lovers, she never married and came from a very poor family, so her rise was truly amazing. So how did a French girl from a destitute family abandoned by her father become a world-famous Parisian fashion designer and one of the most iconic women of the 20th century?
On the day Gabrielle was born, her father, Henri Albert Chanel , was not present, presumably off working somewhere. A Street peddler was a common occupation during this period and a familiar sight in the s and early s.
They often pushed their products in carts or carried them on their backs pedalling anything and everything from bananas and flowers to underwear and shoes.
