born Aug. 19, 1883, Saumur, France

died Jan. 10, 1971, Paris

French fashion designer who ruled over Parisian haute couture for almost six decades. Her elegantly casual designs inspired women of fashion to abandon complicated, uncomfortable clothes and to adopt her now-classic innovations, such as the Chanel suit, costume jewelry, and the “little black dress.”

Chanel was born into poverty in the French countryside; her mother died, and her father abandoned her to an orphanage. After a brief stint as a shopgirl and a failed attempt to become a café singer, Chanel engaged in liaisons with a series of wealthy men. In 1913, with financial assistance from one of these men, she opened a tiny millinery shop in Deauville, France, where she also sold simple sportswear, such as jersey sweaters. Within five years her original use of jersey fabric to create a “poor girl” look had attracted the attention of influential wealthy women seeking relief from prevalent corseted styles. Faithful to her maxim that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” Chanel's designs stressed simplicity and comfort and revolutionized the fashion industry. By the late 1920s the Chanel industries employed 3,500 people and included a couture house, a textile business, perfume laboratories, and a workshop for costume jewelry. The financial basis of this empire was Chanel No. 5, the phenomenally successful perfume she introduced in 1922.