Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel

Born into poverty in 1883 and raised in a convent orphanage, Gabrielle Chanel learned to sew before becoming a cabaret singer. She used her relationships with wealthy benefactors to open her first millinery shop in Paris in 1910, eventually transforming women's fashion by introducing comfortable, elegant alternatives to the restrictive corsets of the era.

Gabrielle Chanel (1883-1971) was raised in the Aubazine convent orphanage after her mother's death, where she learned to sew. She sang in cafés (where she picked up the nickname "Coco") and, backed by Étienne Balsan and later Arthur "Boy" Capel, opened Chanel Modes in Paris in 1910. She replaced corseted Belle Époque fashion with jersey dresses, the little black dress (1926), the tweed suit and the 2.55 quilted bag (1955). In 1924 she licensed her perfume business to Pierre and Paul Wertheimer, who took 70% of Parfums Chanel while she kept 10%; she spent decades contesting the deal, including an attempt during the German occupation to use anti-Jewish laws against the Wertheimers. After closing her couture house in 1939 and spending years in Switzerland, she relaunched it in 1954, and the Wertheimers bought the entire company that year. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).