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Chanel BiographyCoco (or Gabrielle as she was christened) Chanel did not have the most auspicious start in life – her mother died when she was only six and her father practically abandoned his children. Coco and her sister spent much of their childhood in an orphanage where they were taught to sew (which ironically Coco was never very good at) but nevertheless this enabled her to find employment in a dressmaking business. It was probably here that she met the first of the rich and influential people who would help her career. Using borrowed money, she was soon able to launch her own business, designing and making hats. Her exceptional talent for elegant simplicity soon won her a fashionable following, as she provided a chic and modern alternative to the elaborately plumed and bedecked hats of the period.
 Her first Rue Gambon shop, opened in 1910, was in fact a millinery shop. By the beginning of the First World War she had expanded into clothing, selling what was to become her signature style – practical yet highly elegant styles such as the jersey ‘slip-over’ - that catered to a more modern woman by freeing her from the confines of the over-elaborate gowns and corsets then fashionable. During the 1920’s, in a move entirely consistent with her design philosophy, Chanel began to produce her own line of costume jewelry. She felt that the simple shapes and fabrics of her couture clothes provided the perfect backdrop to her elaborate costume jewelry. Rather than pretend the jewelry was ‘real’ she emphasised its fakeness by use of size, color and shear abundance. As she said: ‘When you make imitation jewelry, you always make it bigger’. In almost all her photographs she is wearing her adored costume jewelry, with rows of pearls, as well as brooches and bracelets or cuffs. Yet she was a canny businesswoman, and although the materials were fake, all her costume jewelry was exquisitely made (she worked with some of the finest jewelry makers of the time, including, almost from the start, Maison Gripoix). She set her prices high, often made limited runs and even signed some pieces, making them highly collectible. She thus popularized costume jewelry amongst those who could easily afford the real thing by creating an air of exclusivity and prestige. She also rewrote jewelry etiquette – she would wear layers of jewelry during the day and in incongruous places such as the beach, when the then fashion dictated that jewelry was strictly for special occasions or for evening wear.
 Her jewelry designs, like her clothes, very much represented her personal style. She drew her inspiration from numerous sources, but all tended towards the rich and exotic. Often they were based on jewels given to her by rich lovers. Those of the Russian nobleman Dimitri Pavloviych inspired her to create necklaces of gilt chains from which hung poured glass crosses and pearls. Other sources included Egyptian design, and Renaissance and Byzantine jewelry, which inspired the rich, heavy glass stone pendants that are so much part of her legacy. Many of these designs from the 1920’s have become Chanel classics – as instantly recognisable as her clothes. They continue to influence and inspire Chanel collections to this day.
Coco Chanel continued leading the House of Chanel until her death in 1971 at the age of 87. In the 1983 appointment of Karl Lagerfeld as designer, Chanel discovered someone who was a truly worthy heir of Coco herself. While he continued to design in a recognisably ‘Chanel’ style he would often do so with a novel or irreverent twist. He recognized the contribution the costume jewelry line had made to the overall Chanel look when he said of Chanel: ‘With a black pullover and ten rows of pearls she revolutionized fashion’, and costume jewelry continues to be an essential element of the Chanel look and style even today.
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