Coco Chanel Logo

The prestigious house of Chanel was founded in 1910 by the elaborate, divine and glamorous Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, also more commonly known as Coco Chanel. The Coco Chanel fashion house has been hailed an early pioneer of modern feminism, by creating daring and extravagant designs. Desirable and attractive women’s perfumes followed, with her most famous one being ‘Chanel No.5’, recognised around the world, selling millions to this day 110 years after the company launched.

The legacy of Chanel has long been known as mysterious and controverisal, from collaborations with the Nazis during World War Two, to being a spy and sleeping with the army generals! When the war began, Gabrielle decided to close all her stores but one, stating that:” war is not time for fashion”. She returned to the business in 1954 and became a commercial success in the fashion world, being hailed as a new way of connecting the youth and fashion. To this day Coco Chanel is recognised throughout the world for her iconic bags, her logo and perfumes.

The Coco Chanel Logo

The fashion house of Chanel may be more famous for the logo itself rather than the products they make. The connected C’s are recognisable worldwide as “Luxury and glamour”.  Gabrielle Chanel designed the logo in 1925, saying that she was inspired by the stained glass windows in a monastery that was local to her when she was growing up.

Coco Chanel Stained Glass Windows

While that is the official theory from the fashion house itself, there are several other theories as to how the logo came about, Queen Claude of France was also an inspiration for Coco Chanel according to this theory, as she has used a similar symbol at Chateau Royal De Blois.

Another theory is that it was a romantic and post-mortem tribute to the love of her life, a merge of the initials of Coco Chanel and Arthur Capel. As well as being her lover Arthur was a founding partner of the company. Arthur died in 1919, causing Gabrielle to fall into deep despair, and might have been a tribute to him?

Coco Chanel Logo

Tracing the scent of Coco’s creativity …

Coco’s early success gave her the freedom to go further. In the early 1920s she launched her first perfume, the eternal Chanel N°5.

Coco said, “Perfume is the unseen, unforgettable, ultimate accessory of fashion … that heralds your arrival and prolongs your departure.”

Today Chanel No.5 is without a doubt the world’s most recognised and adored perfume and one of her greatest achievements.

But it was by far not her last.

In 1925, she created the Chanel suit and the little black dress. The LBD, an icon of medern fashion.