Today’s famous is Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel. She was born on 19 August 1883 and died 10 January 1971. She was a French fashion designer and she founded the fashion house Chanel. She is especially known for the perfume Chanel No. 5th Today is an international fashion house Chanel is known all over the world. Among Chanel’s most popular products are Chanel bags, shoes, dresses, suits, perfumes and makeup.
She grew up in the town of Saumur in France. Gabrielle had 5 siblings. When she was 12 years old, her mother died of tuberculosis and her father abandoned the family. She arrived at the Roman Catholic monastery in Aubazine, where she learned to sew.
When she was 18 years old, she left the orphanage and went to the town of Moulins to become a singer. During this time Chanel appeared in clubs in Vichy and Moulins where she was called “Coco.” Some say the name comes from one of the songs she used to sing, and she has said, according to an article in “The Atlantic” that it was “an abbreviated version of Cocotte. She met the rich and the young French fabric heir Étienne Balsan while she worked at a tailor. Chanel was a hatter in 1910 and opened a shop at 21 rue Cambon, called Chanel Modes.
