Chanel ready-to-wear collection
Chanel is a privately held French company founded in 1909 by Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, a former milliner. The Chanel ready-to-wear collection is showcased biannually for spring-summer and autumn-winter seasons during Paris Fashion Week to an audience of media, retailers, buyers, investors, and customers, under the auspices of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode, which is one of three trade associations affiliated with the Fédération française de la couture, du prêt-à-porter des couturiers et des créateurs de mode. The House of Chanel is known for liberating women from the corset in the early 20th century and designing fluid, jersey pieces, most notably the little black dress. Chanel died in 1971, Karl Lagerfeld has been the Creative Director since 1983.
Coco Chanel
Having learned to sew during her six years at Aubazine, Chanel found employment as a seamstress. When not sewing, she sang in a cabaret frequented by cavalry officers. Chanel made her stage debut singing at a "cafe-concert" (a popular entertainment venue of the era) in a Moulins pavilion, "La Rotonde". She was a "poseuse", a performer who entertained the crowd between star turns. The money earned was what they managed to accumulate when the plate was passed. It was at this time that Gabrielle acquired the name "Coco" when she spent her nights singing in the cabaret, often the song, "Who Has Seen Coco?" She often liked to say the nickname was given to her by her father. Others believe "Coco" came from "Ko Ko Ri Ko", and "Qui qu'a vu Coco", or it was an allusion to the French word for kept woman, "cocotte". As an entertainer, Chanel radiated a juvenile allure that tantalized the military habitués of the cabaret.