For the upper echelon and privileged classes in our society, style and fashion gurus unequivocally exert an enormous amount of influence. At this juncture the most famous and the most important method designers of the 20th century were:
The designer Gabrielle or Coco Chanel. Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, known as Coco, learned to sew at a young age, while spending time in a Roman Catholic monastery's orphanage. At the age of 18 in 1901, she set out from school to work with a local tailor, in what can only be called an ironic twist to the rags to riches story of fame and fortune. Throughout this time, she began to design hats, which fascinated the interest of the privileged, together with her enthusiast, French millionaire Ettienne Balsan--her doorway to high Parisian culture. She opened her own boutique in 1910. In the 1920s, she burst onto the fashion scene with her minimalist styles constructed using readily-available fabrics and simple designs. Even though Chanel died in 1971, her fashion is still around today. Chanel has one of the top perfumes in the world today - No.5. Everyone knows Chanel as the person responsible for bringing pants to women's fashion but did you know Chanel was on TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century and was the only one named to this list from the haute couture field?
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