“If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.” 

What do you really know about Mademoiselle Chanel apart from the brand? Did you know that she had to make her wings grow because she was born without them? I’m not here to tell you her whole life, I only want to share some interesting facts with you. Some of them you may find surprising, some weird or some even unbelievable.

I assure you that her 88 years long life has been really intense and worth knowing something.

Given the fact that Gabrielle Chanel was subject of some of my studies, we must also take into consideration the fact that she has been revolutionary for her ideas, and this was made clear by her creations which put them into action. She can be considered as an unknown symbol of the 1900’s. 

I have personally always been into fashion and I have recently broadened my knowledge about Coco Chanel, having read some books and linked her inventions concerning fashion, to the history of that century. 

1. First of all I’d like to discuss her childhood in an orphanage with her sisters and therefore the austerity which inspired her for her following inventions. 

2. Secondly, I’ll concentrate on symbols and numbers, giving the fact that Mademoiselle was fascinated by symbology, which she was introduced to by one of her many men, Arthur Capel Boy.

3. Lastly, I want to share with you one of the things that are claimed about Coco Chanel which I found the most interesting. They often say that she was a Nazi spy..but I’ll tell you more about it, later on. 

Contrastingly with what you may think, Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel had a rather unfortunate childhood. Born in 1883, together with her two sisters, at the age of 12, having lost her mother, she was sent to the convent of Aubazine, which ran an orphanage. It was a stark, frugal life, demanding strict discipline. Despite the tragedy of this, being placed in the orphanage may have been the best thing for Coco’s future because it is where she learned to sew. Moreover, form the austerity of the place, she has probably been inspired to use black and white colors. Having started her activity as a hat maker, she later in time expanded her industry to other items of clothing. Her boutique was one of the only ones which stayed open during the first world war and therefore the business proved to be extremely lucrative. From that moment on, her road to success had just begun.

Having introduced the character of Coco Chanel I’d like to introduce one of the traits of her character, her belief in superstition and therefore some meaningful symbols in her life. 

Chanel was a very superstitious person, therefore she surrounded herself with talismans and lucky charms. She embedded subtle signature touches to each collection encompassing her personality through specific lucky symbols. Coco Chanel is most famously known for her simple CC interlocking logo. 

Ever wondered why they were used and why Chanel chose these specific designs? Chanel was friend’s with many influential artists, poets, and musicians at the time, and this helped her artistic creativity which in course changed fashion history.

In 1921 Gabrielle Chanel placed a C on the wax seal of the neck of her 1921 perfume bottle. She developed this single C and evolved it into a monogram by doubling it becoming the iconic CC logo highly recognizable worldwide. The double ‘CC’ design, was inspired by the stained glass windows in the Cistercian abbey of Aubazine, the orphanage where Chanel grew up.

‘The remarkably simple monogram CC logo stood out like a sign of recognition’.

It is still debated today what the double C logo, in fact, stands for. At first thought, you would presume Coco Chanel, but many suspect whether the iconic CC logo stands for Chanel and Capel and her lover (an English aristocrat). 

The lions head refers to Chanel’s star sign, as she was born under the sign ‘Leo’. Many vintage Chanel couture buttons featured lion heads instead of the interlocking CC. Chanel’s grave in Switzerland features lion heads, five to be exact, a reference to her lucky number. 

The No. 5 “Luck is a way of being. Luck is my soul.” — Gabrielle “Coco”. 

Was Chanel’s lucky number, which was present during the finest moments of her life. After being introduced to her private perfumer, he created a range of scents for Chanel to choose from. She selected the fifth version, her lucky number, eventually calling it Chanel no.5. The perfume was the first fragrance, which bought her extensive fame and fortune as soon as even Marylin Monroe claimed it was the only thing she wore before going to bed. 

Coco designed products with subtle yet personal detailing and messages. She loved reading into the finest detail and being surrounded by symbols was a way of life.

Concluding on Chanel’s relationship with symbols it is clear to note that Chanel was a lady way ahead of her time. Her jewelry design does not date and vintage items are still deemed fashionable if not more fashionable today than when they were released. Fashion is one thing but style cannot be taught. It is something you are born with.

You might have already heard of some of the things that I told you, however, I’m sure you don’t know what I’m about to say.

Can you believe that Coco was believed to be a Nazi spy?

There is another side to the story of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, and it concerns her actions in occupied France during World War II. Chanel remained in her native country following its occupation by German forces in the summer of 1940. Since the war’s end, rumors have abounded about the real nature of her association with the Nazis. Now according to Hal Vaughan, author of the new book, Sleeping with the Enemy, Chanel is revealed as having actually worked for German military intelligence during the war.

Being a Nazi agent was “part of her daily life” in Paris during the occupation, he says.

Ensconced in the luxury of the Hotel Ritz, a privilege permitted to few non-Germans, Chanel, who had closed her shops in France at the outbreak of war, was in constant contact with the country’s new Nazi overlords. Key to the new allegations is her affair with the dashing 44-year-old German officer Baron Hans Guenther von Dincklage who, Vaughan says, “has been treated by every biographer as a kind of playboy tennis man”.

“He manipulated Chanel, and Chanel manipulated him.”

It was von Dincklage who arranged the 57-year-old Chanel’s stay in the Ritz and who managed her business relations with the occupation authorities.

But what did Chanel really do as an agent? Well, after having been promised that her nephew would be released, it seems that she traveled to Madrid in August 1941 with the special dispensation of the Germans, in order to use her contacts to gain political intelligence.

Vaughan readily accepts that Chanel was never a spy. “Espionage ­- you take photographs, you take documents.­ Chanel never did that,” he says.

“She was a facilitator. She knew everybody in Spain, she knew everybody in England, and she helped out the Nazis.”

While the evidence appears to skew strongly in favor of Chanel’s at least doing some information gathering for the National Socialists, it is important to note that none of this has ever been officially confirmed. 

I have first of all discussed Chanel’s childhood and where her inspiration came from. Secondly, I’ve explained the importance which symbols have in her life, and in particular, the importance of number five among all the numbers. Last but not least, I’ve taken into consideration the hypothesis of her being a Nazi spy, however without coming up without an answer to the question if she was or not.

Coco Chanel is a much more interesting character that one may have thought of. Her entire life was devoted to fashion, innovations, and many men. Such a complex figure as hers deserved further study. 

So “If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.”

And that’s exactly what she did. She found the strength to grow and spread her wings to reach the peace of success.

Did you know these facts about Coco Chanel? Hope you enjoyed.

Yours,

Dedu