Coco Chanel was born on August 19, 1883 in France as Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, the daughter of a traveling salesman. Only after her birth did her parents decide to get married. When she was 12, her mother died and her father abandoned the family. He put his sons to work on the farm, and Coco and her sisters went to an orphanage run by nuns. It was there that she developed a passion for minimalism, simplicity and… fragrances, which today are contained in probably the most famous perfume bottle in the world: No. 5. She learned to sew as a teenager, and as a young woman she dreamed of one thing: getting out of poverty.
Chanel started out as a singer, although she couldn’t sing. That’s when she adopted her nickname
20-year-old Gabrielle worked in a tailor’s salon during the day, and in the evenings she worked as a singer in Moulins and Vichy cafes. Even though she couldn’t sing, the officers she performed in front of liked her temperament. She made up for it with enthusiasm and flirtatiousness. It was then that she adopted a nickname that would stay with her until the end and which today is inextricably associated with luxury. However, the work she did then was far from luxurious. 23-year-old Coco, on her way to her dream lifestyle, finally left her job as a “cabaret actress” to become the lover of Etienne Balsan, a former cavalry officer turned industrialist. The fairy tale has begun.
She lived for the next three years in his castle with a stable of racing horses near Compiegne, seventy-five kilometers from Paris
– in “Coco Chanel. Sleeping with the Enemy”. Coco decided that from now on she would only date rich and influential men. It was Balsan who introduced her to Arthur Capel. “Boy” charmed Coco. And he became the greatest love of her life. Capel helped her develop her business, which launched her most famous brand.
Boy Capel and Chanel were related in spirit. A generous lover paid for a good English boarding school for Coco’s nephew […]. Later, when Chanel moved into women’s fashion, Capel financed her boutiques in Paris, Deauville and Biarritz.
Romances, lovers and the most famous perfumes in the world. After her loved one’s death, she “lost everything”
Already in 1919, Chanel founded her fashion house, to which she lent her name. The war influenced the success. Simple, comfortable clothes made of soft knits sold like hot cakes. Three years later, Chanel No. perfume saw the light of day. 5. It was a revolution. – I want to give women artificial perfume. Artificial like a dress, something that has been made. I don’t want a rose or a lily, I want a perfume that is a composition. A woman should smell like a woman, not like a flower – . Between her success on the fashion market and the appearance of the famous perfume, Coco had to face a tragedy in her life. Capel, with whom Coco was head over heels in love, married an English aristocrat, although Chanel remained his mistress even after the wedding. However, in December 1919, Boy died in a car accident.
Twenty-five years later, in exile in Switzerland, she confided to Paul Morand, her friend and biographer: ‘His death was a terrible blow to me. When I lost Capel, I lost everything. I must admit that what followed was not a happy life.
– wrote Vaughan.
Coco Chanel had affairs with Picasso, Dali and a Russian prince. “She had to have a man by her side.”
Chanel found solace in the arms of her cousin, Tsar Nicholas II. Thanks to Dymitr Pawłowicz, according to one legend, Coco met Ernest Beaux. The perfumer was to create a fragrance for her that is still enclosed in the iconic bottle to this day. Its shape was inspired by the carafe of Boy’s beloved whiskey. Chanel with many men, almost all distinguished ones. Among them there was not only Pavłowicz, but also the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky and… Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali.
She had to have a man by her side, she was always looking for affection and never found one that would satisfy her.
She was in the company of businessmen, influential men and artists. She did not hide her anti-Semitism. She even ostentatiously despised gays, and at the same time she herself had affairs, among others. with the Polish pianist, Maria Godebska, aka Misi Sert. It was no secret that Coco had been addicted not only to the company of men, but also to drugs throughout her life.
Coco Chanel and Dymitr Pavłowicz Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
During the war, she was an Abwehr agent. Churchill rescued her from prison
World War II found Coco Chanel already a recognized designer, creator of the legendary “little black dress” and a woman who revolutionized fashion. During the war, she suspended her business, but not her social activities. She began an affair with the German officer Hans Günther von Dincklage, 13 years younger than her. He was the one who persuaded her to collaborate with the Abwehr. Chanel was supposed to be agent F-7124 codenamed “Westminster”, an intermediary between Winston Churchill and Heinrich Himmler. According to Vaughan, Coco was “an ideal recruitment candidate for the German secret services.” After the liberation of France, she was arrested, albeit briefly. Churchill himself was said to have sought her release. – It’s obvious that she was an agent, although several other details in this book are nonsense – said Bogusław Wołoszański in an interview. After the war, Chanel herself remained silent about what she did until her death. She hid in Switzerland, only to return to Paris after a few years. She died on January 10, 1971 at the age of 87.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
