Little Book of Chanel

“She was the first to live the life of the century.”

Coco grew up in an orphanage. Those plain habits the nuns wore inspired her minimalist aesthetic later on. She turned childhood restrictions into high fashion.

“Before me no one would have dared dress in black.”

The little black dress was originally meant for mourning. She took a symbol of grief and made it a uniform for freedom. It changed how women dressed for dinner.

“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”

She started with hats in a tiny shop. Her style was so stripped back compared to the feathered messes of the time. People thought it was radical just because it was simple.

“A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.”

Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume to use synthetic scents. Before that everyone just smelled like a single flower. She wanted women to smell like a person instead.