Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel purchased her first boutique at age 28. She borrowed the money from her adoring lover Arthur "Boy" Capelle---the one man in her life that truly believed in her ideas. She had many boyfriends but Boy Capelle was the "one" true love of her life. He was eventually killed in a car crash. Gabrielle paid him back every last cent with interest within a year of the shop opening. She was a thriving business woman within that time. Many people claimed they went to the shop just to see her. People were fascinated with her. It was almost unheard of for a woman at that time to be so wealthy and independent apart from family means. Not bad for a girl abandoned at an orphanage by her father at an age nine for being a "useless" girl. He kept her brothers but after her mother died in childbirth, she and her sister were given away.
At the orphanage, Gabrielle took joy in learning to sew. She loved having a craft and being good at something. The walls of the orphanage were white and the long windows were outlined in black. This is a pattern you will see countless times in the design of her clothing. The classic white cardigan with black lining. This is one of many examples where she took whatever situation she was in and used it for inspiration in her designs. She felt that for everything that was horrible and ugly in the world, there would always be something exactly opposite-- which would be equally if not more beautiful than the ugly. This is probably why she took so much delight in aesthetics. The world will let you down, but beauty is still everywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment