About three years after opening her first shop, selling hats, Chanel Modes, in Coco Chanel opened her second and took a shot in the clothing industry. She put out a collection unlike anything else that was out at the time. She sold “simple sportswear, such as jersey sweaters” (Britannica) As simple as that may seem to us today, it was unthinkable before she had done it. It was quite literally a cultural reset. She changed the way women had seen their bodies, she made it okay to be comfortable and feel good about themselves at the same time. Everyone, including the most influential, public figures at the time, loved the line and it was an immediate success. By the year 1915, she was fully established and respected in her industry. That same year, she officially opened her first “couture house” in Biarritz, France. This was soon followed by a second in Paris in the year 1918, on the same street as her very first store.
The 1920’s were very eventful for the Chanel brand. At this point, the company’s net worth was already millions of dollars, with that money Chanel continued to expand her company, hiring more workers, and selling more products including jewelry, makeup and perfume. In 1921, she debuted her first fragrance called “Chanel N°5,” which was brewed by Ernest Beaux, apparently it’s number five “because it was the fifth scent presented to mademoiselle Chanel.” (Inside Chanel) The release was a huge success, including “a combination of jasmine and several other floral scents that was more complex and mysterious than the single-scented perfumes then on the market,” it was adored by everyone. The next year, she released her second fragrance, calling it, “Chanel N°22”, named after its birth year, 1922. This release resulted in yet another hit with the public.
The remainder of the decade was just as interesting for Chanel. In the year 1924, Coco Chanel stepped out of her comfort zone several times again, including finding her bearings in the makeup industry. Dropping a collection of lip colors and face powders that turned out to be extremely popular are profitable for the brand. There were a total of three more fragrances released, including Chanel Gardénia in 1925, Bois Des Iles in 1926, and Cuir De Russia in 1927, each design more sleek and innovative than the last.
The 1930’s was when Chanel was at the top of the game. The brand moved to creating clothing for these Hollywood actresses in their movies, getting the brand the exposure it has been craving, the global kind. I would assume the next collection the brand released was tailored for its new consumer population of rich famous women from Hollywood, because it was full of stunning diamond pieces, necklaces, bracelets and headpieces. By 1935, Coco Chanel was a famous designer, employing 4,000 people and owning five different Paris boutiques.
Although in 1945, Chanel had to clothes all of its stores, due to the threats posed by World War II at the time, the brand is still producing until this day. They reopened the first couture house in 1954, and got to work, Coco Chanel was “tired of the fashions of the time,”(Inside Chanel) even though she was 71 at the time, she didn’t let anything get in her way before, so I would expect nothing less. She wasted no time, dropping product after product while she still could including, her infamous 2.55 bag, the brand’s first and only men’s fragrance ever released and two toned shoes. The last thing released under Coco Chanel’s reign was the Chanel N°19, after her own birthday, August 19th.
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