Coco Chanel and Success
From Rags to Riches, Fashion Designer uses Special Opportunities, the 10,000-Hour Rule and Right Time, Right Place to Reach Success.
By: Lylah Dixon | Business/Entrepreneurship Major
From perfume to suits and little black dresses, Coco Chanel, known as Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is an iconic designer. In 1910, Ms. Chanel opened up her first store on Paris’s Rue Cambon. She started making clothes and one special piece inspired her for her brand. People kept asking where she got it and she offered to make more. The special piece was a dress she made out of an old jersey. Coco said, “My fortune is built on that old jersey that I’d put on because it was cold in Deauville.” (Coco Chanel Biography)
Coco Chanel’s father put her in an orphanage when her mom passed. There she was taught how to sew. She stayed there for a while and started her business. She came out with her well-known perfume called Chanel №5. From there, her business skyrocketed. To perfume, suits, dresses, skirts, etc. Coco Chanel’s business turned into what is known as today. One unfortunate event turned her business the other way. It was the economic depression of the 1930s. She closed all her shops. At age 70 she made a comeback. Even better than when she started. Everyone around the world was impressed. In the book Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell, he writes, “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.” Chanel used Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas on special opportunities, 10,000 hours, right time right place to reach her level of success.
Coco Chanel grew up without her family in her life. Her mother died of tuberculosis. Soon after, the rest of her family rejected her. That is when her father took her to an orphanage. At this point in her life, she was only 12 years old. When she arrived at the orphanage, the nuns took care of her and taught her how to sew. If she was never brought there, her interest in the industry would’ve never sparked. In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes about how success is reached by the opportunities that are offered to us. He discusses lucky breaks. Obviously, success doesn’t just come with lucky breaks, it also takes some hard work and talent. Chanel was in Moulins she met someone named Etiene Balsan. He came from a family of wealthy industrialists. Chanel and Etiene started seeing each other and he helped her open a boutique in Deauville. Since Chanel was looking for a way to get out of poverty, it worked out great because Etiene helped her climb that ladder. Soon they were over and Chanel met another man named Arthur who helped her finance her fashion business. He was very wealthy. He owned a shipping and coal business. He was also very good at polo so he was very well known. He was her biggest publicity. Not too long after he died in a car crash. Chanel was devastated. But she used this unfortunate event to motivate herself more in her career. Even though Chanel did not know this, everything that happened to her led her one step closer to special opportunities that made her business skyrocket. These hardships lead her to search for wealth. That wealth would make her one step closer to her success. Every little detail led to opportunities to help Coco reach her goals. With her connections, she met a man named Earnest Beaux, whose father was an expert in making perfume. Chanel suggested different smells he should use and convinced him to let her use it. The first perfume she came out with was known as Chanel №5. That perfume is known and still being sold today. That perfume was the first ever made by a designer. They called it “liquid gold.”
Coco Chanel not only used special opportunities to achieve her goals, but she also worked very hard and got in her 10,000 hours when she was very young. Chanel’s first customers were princesses and duchesses. She dresses them in simple, elegant clothing which was the style Coco Chanel wanted to make her brand. Her clothes are the most copied styles of all time. Ms. Chanel learned how to sew from the nuns who took care of her at age 17. She started very young and got a job from a seamstress. Chanel met so many famous people to help her get her 10,000 hours.
Coco Chanel used right time, right place by creating styles that no one has ever seen before and opened a new door in the fashion industry. Her styles have continued throughout the years and even used a lot in modern times. Where she was located also had to do with the idea of right time right place. She moved to Paris when she opened up her first location. Paris was a big place for fashion at the time and still is.
Coco Chanel is a very famous designer whose fashion and stories inspire young designers and entrepreneurs today. Even if fashion is not something you are interested in. The entrepreneurship aspect of her story can inspire many people.
Works Cited
“Coco Chanel.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Feb. 2018, www.biography.com/people/coco-chanel-9244165.
“Gabrielle.” Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur, 10 Oct. 2008, www.entrepreneur.com/article/197624.
Gladwell, Malcolm, Outliers. Little Brown and Company, November 18, 2008
About the author: LYLAH DIXON
Lylah Dixon, a freshman business major from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, is pursuing a dream of owning her own fashion line one day. Dixon loves to hang out with her friends in her free time.
What I’ve Learned:
Procrastination, do not do it.
When it comes to talking in front of the class, no one cares if you mess up or lose your train of thought. It happens to everyone and everyone is here to learn.
Malcolm Gladwell, while reading his book Outliers, taught me a different way to look at how people reach success and how his ideas are original and well taught to other people.
Defining moments may be hard to talk about, but you never know who you are going to inspire.
Books are way more fun to read with other people.
The more personal stories are, the more people are interested.
Help, do not be afraid to ask for it. Everyone is here to help you, even though it might not feel that way.
Research, it takes a lot of time to find the exact material you are looking for but do not get discouraged.
It is easier to dream than do.
This class has helped from a business standpoint because you learn about success and everyone wants to succeed when they own their own business.
