One of the reasons that I adore the French fashion designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, besides the fact that she brought comfort and practicality to women’s fashion, is because she refused to play by any rules she didn’t heartily agree with — of any game. She was fiercly shrewd, bold, strikingly attractive, and full of zest. She fought for what she believed in and took what was hers.
She was the consumate feminine feminist and trailblazer — always far ahead of her time. In fact, if she didn’t want to be confined by a man’s ideal of beauty (read: corsets), she created her own fashion and got rid of the damn things. Her style was so influencial, her name is now synonymous with fashion. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine’s list of the 100 most infulential people of the 20th century.
Coco believed that women should be comfortable in their own skin as well in their clothes, that they could age with grace, and be powerful without apology.
Micki Allen 