Chanel Debuts “Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto” Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London - V Magazine

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883–1971) and the House of Chanel, Essay, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

New Exhibition Explores How Coco Chanel Forged Modern Style's DNA

Who is Coco Chanel? Here are some facts to know about the iconic designer behind the little black dress and Marilyn Monroe's favorite perfume.

Who Is Coco Chanel? 12 Facts About the Iconic Designer

A fashion professor has raised an interesting point I've never thought about before: Was Coco Chanel's success tied, partially, to the fact that she never married? The designer wasn't without her share of long-term, emotionally charged love affairs; one theory for the beyond-famous interlocking C's is that the logo was created as a way to immortalize the love between Chanel and Boy Capel after he passed away. But lovers aside, no one ever put a ring on it. "For Chanel and young divorcée Madeleine Vionnet, their single status, atypical for the time, meant radically rethinking their relationship to the male gaze and therefore to style," Alice Litscher, a professor in fashion communication at the Institut Français de la Mode in Paris, told The Guardian. "Vionnet's loose bias cuts or Coco's tweeds expressed a radical sense of liberation from classical femininity and seduction." Chanel was paramount in changing how women viewed style, introducing comfortable jersey and taking inspiration from the uniforms of sailors, both of which combined to create the easy shifts we still wear today (Downton Abbey watchers, think about when you first noticed the female characters' costumes begin to change—that would've been Chanel's influence at play). Have you read

Did Coco Chanel Being Single Affect Her Designing?

Quotations from Coco Chanel, legendary fashion designer and business leader.

Coco Chanel Quotes: On Fashion, Women, Life and More

Even a woman who has never owned an original Chanel piece is sure to have something hanging in her closet that was inspired by the iconic designer.

5 Ways Coco Chanel Has Inspired Fashion Today

We look back at the legendary designer. We look back at the legendary designer's most inspirational life lessons

The world according to Coco Chanel

One of the world's most influential fashion designers Coco Chanel was born on this day in 1883; to mark the occasion Chronicle Books in the US has

Coco Chanel: her most enduring looks modelled by the designer herself

Coco Chanel - a style icon for the ages - HubPages