Coco Chanel
Although Chanel was viewed as a prominent figure of luxury fashion during her life, Chanel's influence has been examined further post death in 1971. She continued to spend her final years in luxury evermore at her magnificent Ritz apartment. When Chanel died, the first lady of France, Mme, Pompidou organized a hero's tribute. Soon damaging documents from French intelligence agencies were released that outlined Chanel's war time involvements that quickly ended her monumental funeral plans.
Little black dress
In 1926 Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel published a picture of a short, simple black dress in American "Vogue". It was calf-length, straight and decorated only by a few diagonal lines. "Vogue" called it "Chanel's Ford". Like the Model T, the little black dress was simple and accessible for women of all social classes. "Vogue" also said that the LBD would become "a sort of uniform for all women of taste". This, as well as other designs by the house of Chanel helped disassociate black from mourning, and reinvent it as the uniform of the high-class, wealthy, and chic. As Coco herself proclaimed, "I imposed black; it's still going strong today, for black wipes out everything else around."