designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel
. Her extraordinary influence on fashion was such that she was the only person in the couturier field to be named on Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century
.
Chanel was born to an unwed mother, Jeanne Devolle, a laundrywoman, in a facility for the indigent in Saumur, France.
A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion.
A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.
A style does not go out of style as long as it adapts itself to its period. When there is an incompatibility between the style and a certain state of mind, it is never the style that triumphs.
A woman has the age she deserves.
A woman is closest to being naked when she is well dressed.
As long as you know men are like children, you know everything.
Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
Dress sharply and they'll remember the outfit; dress impeccably and they'll remember the woman.
Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.
Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have already taken possession of their future.