Chanel (Firm)

Organization

Dates

Existence: 1910-

Biography

Chanel, perhaps one of the most well-known and coveted fashion brands in the world, was founded in 1910 by Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel. Chanel originally sold hats at it's first location on Paris’s Rue Cambon. About four years later, she opened a second location in Deauville, followed a couple years later by another boutique in Biarritz. After many people commented on a jersey design she created for herself, Chanel began designing clothes, using the Cambon location for her Couture output and the Biarritz boutique for "pour-le-sport." Jersey would become an important textile for Chanel's early career; in 1916, Rodier, a French textile industrialist, gave Chanel exclusive rights to their jersey textile. Chanel debuted the now-legendary perfume, Chanel No. 5, in 1921. Chanel, working with Ernest Beaux, is said to have chosen the fifth sample Beaux had her try, giving rise to the simple yet effective name. Throughout the 1920s, Chanel continued to expand, launching a cosmetics line in 1924 and skin-care products. Chanel's design thesis was "fashion passes, style remains," perfectly describing the simplistic-yet-chic little black dress which she helped popularize. Chanel remained one of the leaders in fashion throughout the 1930s. It was in this decade that the brand released the "Chanel 2.55" bag. At the beginning of WWII, Chanel decided to close down her shop. Having spent the entirety of the war in the Ritz with the German officer, Hans Günther von Dincklage, it was expected that her fashion brand would be no more. Yet in 1954, at the age of 71, Chanel decided to reopen her salon. Although receiving scathing revues from critiques, women from all over flocked to Chanel once more, falling in love with the knit tweed suit that has become a staple for the brand. On January 10, 1971 Chanel passed away at the age of 87 in her suite at the Hôtel Ritz in Paris. Gaston Berthelot and Ramon Esparza, who were assistants to Coco, took over the brand. In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld became the head designer, and remained so until his death in 2019. Under Lagerfeld, Chanel proved it could maintain it's classic elegance while remaining quite contemporary. Chanel established the subsidiary company Paraffection in 2002 as a way to preserve the heritage, craft and skill of fashion artisan workshops in France. After Lagerfeld's passing, Virginie Viard became Chanel's creative director.