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Chanel

History

In 1909, Coco Chanel opened a small millinery shop on the ground floor of the Baslan's apartment in Paris, the beginning of Coco Chanel's rising to a premier fashion designer, the creative spirit behind one of the greatest fashion empires in the world.

The Baslan was the meeting place of France's hunting elite where the gentleman would bring their fashionable mistresses, an opportunity for Chanel to sell the women decorated hats. It was at the Baslan where Chanel met Arthur Capel.

Arthur Capel saw a business woman in Chanel and helped her acquire her location at 31 Rue de Cambon in Paris by 1910. However, there was already another couture shop in the building so Chanel wasn't allowed to sell her produce couture dresses.

In 1913, Chanel introduced women's sportswear into her new boutique situated in Deauville and Biarritz in France but Chanel detested the fashion of the women in these resort towns.

Coco Chanel always maintained that courtiers were not artists but furnishers, and that women should dress simply and comfortably. The turn of World War I allowed her to put this theory into practice. Women who took over the fighting men's factory jobs required warm clothing and could no longer wear noble ornate fashion skirts so Chanel opened a larger shop where she sold flannel blazers, straight linen skirts, sailor tops, long jersey sweaters and skirt jackets. One of many examples of how the designer was inspired by everyday fashion worn by working women.

A woman of many firsts, Chanel was the first woman of fashion to introduce wool jersey into her women's wear revolutionising the textile industry. She found it appealing, the perfect texture for the understated apparel she had in mind.

She was also the first to create costume jewellery which was previously seen as socially unacceptable, and managed to popularise fake jewels and stones by using rope upon rope of imitation pearls that enhanced the simple designs of her clothes.

Chanel died in 1971 at the grand age of 88 but her business continued to live strong, reflecting the classic Chanel look.

Chanel Sunglasses

No doubt 2009 will bring us the most irresistible eyewear collections yet, all of which will be sporting interlacing double C logos.

Eyewear that's shows beauty in its purest form, an excessive array of extreme femininity and elegance. Always simple and practical with a hint of glamour that epitomises effeminacy, timeless eyewear that captivate the heart of fashionista's everywhere.

Chanel's 2009 collections are inspired by her infatuation with pearls and the ambiance of Russian art and culture as well as strong, strict and contrasting lines.

Chanel Sunglasses - As Seen On

• Lindsay Lohan wears - Chanel 5135 , Chanel 5128 and Chanel 4160
• Madonna, The Queen of Pop - Chanel 6032 and Chanel 4160
• Bootylicious Beyonce - Chanel 5124
• Reality TV star Kim Kardashian - Chanel 4154
• Pop Princess Britney Spears - Chanel 4157Q
• High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale - Chanel 4160
• TV presenter Vanessa Minnillo - Chanel 4165
• Actress Reese Witherspoon - Chanel 5124
• Spiderman's Kirsten Dunst - Chanel 5128 and Chanel 5139
• Socialite Paris Hilton - Chanel 4160
• Jumper's Rachel Bilson - Chanel 5139
• Friends superstar Courtney Cox - Chanel 5076
• British bad girl Lilly Allen - Chanel 5138 and Chanel 5120
• Cruel Intention's Sarah Michelle Gellar - Chanel 5076H
• As seen on Anne Hathaway in the Devil Wears Prada - Chanel 5125
• Former glamour girl Katie Price - Chanel 4141Q

View Chanel sunglasses