Coco Chanel: Her Story (Part 2)

It was at one of her cafe performances where she met the wealthy heir to the most prominent textile industry of their time, Etienne Balsan - this was the beginning of massive networking for this damsel. Just at 23, she courted Mr Balsan for the next 3 years and her career started and more than blossomed as she was now exposed to all the right people.

Well, that was a short lived career because a few years later, she had another affair with one of Balsan’s close friends Capel- a reputable and very wealthy Englishman who financed her first stores.
Talk about moving to greener pastures.

Believed to have been influenced by Capel’s sophisticated toiletry bottles, she started her line of Chanel No. 5- a fragrance tailored for the elite. Soon after that she expanded her career to designing hats – you know the fancy hats women took pride in? (I find them rather ridiculous but Coco made them tolerable).

While still under this wealthy man’s roof, she began designing her hats. It is rumored that although he gave her everything she ever needed, he was never faithful to her. They spent a solid 25 years together until he died in a terrible car accident.

Following his death, she did not wallow in sorrow, no, she dusted it off and became a licensed modiste; having the likes of the famous actress Gabrielle Garziat model her clothes. This set the bar so high up only the elite were seen sporting her exquisite apparel.

Sooner than soon, her line became viral, she designed and dressed the rich and beautiful – she was a name to be reckoned with. Europe’s most dashing would be draped in custom made clothes, they had a touch of Chanel , incomparable to anything of that time.

Wild smoke speculates that it is possible she had an affair with a Russian Duke Dmitri Pavlovich who helped her penetrate the Russian market.

Fashion and Film

Once she had managed to sustain her target market, she started designing for film, this was in 1931, after World War 1. By now, she had strike-d her first 1 million dollars and was making a prominent mark in the USA. However, she loathed this as it curbed her creativity and labelled Hollywood as a place where fashion was dead. She left this market and went on to continue making dresses for French films instead. By 1935, she had close to 4000 employees and there was nothing to slow her down.

We can safely say although ailing and frail, she had a satisfactory life as it is reported that she died at 87 years old while in the midst of strewing up yet another catalogue.