SUCCESS STORY
Coco Chanel and the Opportunities that Helped her Reach Success
By Francine Voth | Biology Major
Two of the guests invited for dinner in honor of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor had arrived. One of them being Diana Vreeland, former editor-in-chief of Vogue, the other, Nikki de Gunzburg, close friend and former fashion editor, walked over to the slim, small and clearly in charge woman who stood in the pose that she had made famous: shoulders rolled back, hips thrust out, one foot in front of the other, one hand in her pocket, and the other holding a cigarette (Wallach 5). Coco Chanel, an entrepreneur in revolutionizing the fashion world, liberated women from the gender norms of society as well as their tight corsets. The award winning author Malcolm Gladwell writes his books, Outliers and David and Goliath, on how success is reached by the opportunities that are offered to us. Success is not a random act, instead, it is something that requires ‘lucky breaks’ as well as of course talent and practice. It is all about the people we meet, where we come from, and when we were born. Coco Chanel is a profound example of Gladwell’s theories on the importance of opportunities, and turning disadvantages into advantages.
Born in 1883 with a sickly mother and a drunk and philandering father, Gabrielle Chanel was less than twelve years old when her mother died of tuberculosis, and only a few weeks older when she got rejected by all other family members, including her father who she never got to see again. Gabrielle was taken to an orphanage under the care of nuns and soon after to a boarding school in Moulins. As a poor girl growing up, and in turn being humiliated by it, she was very conscious of the way people looked. She learned to sew and noticed the big white collars and floppy ties of the neighboring schoolboys, and white and black gowns of the nuns (Wallach 6). Because of the economic disadvantages that Gabrielle endured as a child, she was able to have a different outlook on physical appearances and distinctly see the differences between the rich and the poor children. These sights left a deep impression on Gabrielle, so much so, that many of the fabrics and types of clothing that she observed at that boarding school became a huge inspiration for what her clothing line would come to be. The psychiatrist Felix Brown writes, “This is not an argument in favour of orphanage and deprivation, but the existence of these eminent orphans does suggest that in certain circumstances a virtue can be made of necessity” (Gladwell, David and Goliath 143). Losing a parent is not something to hope for, it is one of the most painful things a child can experience, but from that hurt and anguish, the child learns to overcome those feelings and move on with their lives despite the disadvantages.
An astonishing twelve of the first forty-four U.S. presidents lost their fathers at a young age including, George Washington and Barack Obama (Gladwell, David and Goliath 142). How does a person reach such success, like that of governing a country, after experiencing one of the hardest things a child can endure? Gabrielle was no exception to the rule, after her mother’s loss against tuberculosis and being rejected by her family members including her father, Gabrielle found herself living in an orphanage. A study done in the early 1960s by the psychologist Marvin Eisenstadt consisted of interviewing innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs in hopes of finding patters or trends to why they became so successful. To his surprise, a larger amount than expected had lost a parent at an early age. In an essay written by Dean Simonton, Simonton tries to explain why so many gifted children fail to live up to their early promise. One of the reasons, he explains, are that these kids are “too conventional, too obedient, too unimaginative, to make the big time with some revolutionary idea.” He goes on to write that “gifted children and child prodigies seem most likely to emerge in highly supportive family conditions. In contrast, geniuses have a perverse tendency of growing up in more adverse conditions” (142). Chanel might not be viewed as a genius by many people, but she did revolutionize the fashion industry. Her clothing went beyond just fabrics, patterns, and styles, she completely changed the image of women.
Scarred by poverty, Chanel set herself to find wealth, and lots of it. Money not only meant wealth to her, but independence as well. Etiene Balsan, born into a family of wealthy industrialists, noticed Coco Chanel in Moulins and became her lover. In 1909, when Chanel settled in Paris, he lent her his flat on the ground floor, and helped her to open a boutique in Deauville. Chanel’s reputation started when she caught the eye of Balsan’s other two lovers, actress Gabrielle Dorziat and the opera singer Marthe Davelli. When pictures appeared of them wearing Chanel’s hats, she was recognized for the first time as an important and serious designer (Picardie 2). “It’s a rags-to-riches story […] but success doesn’t happen that way. Successful people don’t do it alone. Where they come from matters. They’re products of particular places and environments” (Gladwell, Outliers 119). Coming from a country like France, where part of the culture consisted of rich men having mistresses, usually women who came from poor families and were looking for a man to take care of them, gave Chanel an opportunity to escape poverty and slowly start climbing the ladder to reach her success. Balsan introduced her to the Parisian society, including Englishman Arthur “Boy” Capel who later became Chanel’s lover, and helped her to finance her early fashion business.
Capal, a thirty year old bachelor with a fortune earned through his business in shipping and coal, had a charismatic style and talent for playing polo that put him at the top of the social list. Chanel, a master of charm and enchanting men, was quick to get his attention. Like Balsan, Capel had many women in his life, but he took a personal interest in Chanel. She began to wear his clothes, and seeing how much she liked wearing them, he took her to his tailor to have her wardrobe properly made. Appreciating the originality in her designs, Capal encouraged her to pursue this as a career and to follow her dreams. “He was my father, brother and whole family,” Chanel went on to say, “the great luck of my life. He formed me, he knew how to develop in me what was unique” (Wallach 23). Adored by high society, Capal was Chanel’s biggest publicity. Taking her to horse races and high end parties, Capal always had her by his side, which brought much curiosity to the Parisian public. Chanel was slowly becoming a phenomenon in the eyes of the public as they saw celebrities go from wearing big gowns, tight at the waist, to looser outfits whose figure showed elegance and simplicity. Many of the clothes originally designed by her were clothes taken from Capal’s own closet and cut up to fit a feminine figure. Chanel’s designs represented practicality which appealed to women who worked during the First World War.
Helping out with the war effort, women were taking part in very important roles such as, serving as nurses or aids, doing office work for the Red Cross, collecting food for the hungry, and finding jobs for impoverished women left at home. With their new busy lives, women needed clothes in which they could move about freely. Chanel was becoming the example of the new woman, with her narrow hips, flat chest, short hair, and youthful face. She lived his a man she loved, but was not married to him, and was a very successful independent entrepreneur. Soon enough, customers from all around the world began to buy her clothes. She showed the world how women were just as capable as men were in the work force when she designed blazer jackets for women — originally worn just by men. Famously known as the Chanel jersey, a shirtwaist dress with pockets and button trim was a perfect dress for the career girl. Other designs made popular by her such as, the jersey suit which consisted of a white collar and turned-back cuffs, as well as her immensely popular and timeless Little Black Dress (BLD) designed in 1926 (Wallach 80). By 1919, she had enough money to pay back Capal and move into her own apartment (30).
Capal married Diana Wyndham, daughter of a British lord, but continued to see Chanel. Two days before Christmas in 1919, Capal died in a car crash. For the second time, Chanel had lost the most important man in her life. Capal had nourished her with the knowledge of business and entrepreneurship as well as pushing her to be confident in herself and in her work. Chanel was heartbroken and fell deeper and deeper into despair but was able to use this as a driving force in her career. (Wallach 41).
It is engraved in our brains from an early age that disadvantages are things that ought to be avoided. Disadvantages set us back or leave us worse off, or so we think. In his book David and Goliath, Gladwell introduces the idea of “desirable difficulties”. To show this, he uses a study done by Yale professor Shane Frederick who invented the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) which is a test that measures one’s ability to understand when something is more complex than it appears. By writing the questions in smaller font and in 10 percent gray, students scored higher than they did when the question was easily readable. This made the question frustrating to read, possibly making the students read it twice which forced them to think a little harder (103–104). “Normally we think that we are better at solving problems when they are presented clearly and simple. But here the opposite happened” (105). What seemed like a huge set-back for Chanel, ended up motivating her, because even after feeling abandoned and isolated for the second time, she bounced back and redoubled her efforts at work.
In the movie, Moneyball, the Oakland A’s baseball team lose to the Yankees in the playoffs as well as losing three star players to free agency. With a tight budget and low salary, general manager Billy Beane needs to find a way to construct a team that will win the World Series. Because he has nothing to lose, he is able to take risks and bend rules by hiring Peter Brand, a graduate from Yale, to use statistical data to analyze, something that had never been done before, and place value on players he picks for the team.
Because of the time period in which Chanel was most prosperous, she was able to take risks. Living during an era where women were fighting for rights and wanting to be taken seriously, Chanel was able to design the perfect outfit for the career woman. Discarding the uncomfortable tight corsets and long gowns worn by women during the early 1900s, Chanel was able to recreate a more practical style of clothing for women to wear. She designed strait jackets that showed sophistication with a twist of femininity. She believes in clothes that are flirtatious but never flagrantly sexy. Her signature short dark hair and contrasting white pearls, represented such class that it became an instant hit all around Europe. People as famous and important as Princess Grace of Monaco (former actress Grace Kelly) and Jackie Kennedy, wore Chanel’s tweed suits. The gold-chained shoulder bag became one of the status symbols of the twentieth century as well as the sharp look of black and white in jersey along with a long tunic jacket and starched white collar cuffs, and floppy black bows, all part of the signature “Chanel look”. Chanel once said, “Fashion is always of the time in which you live. It is not something standing alone. But the grand problem, the most important problem, is to rejuvenate women. To make women look young. Then their outlook changes. They feel more joyous” (Klein 255). Chanel revolutionized the way women saw themselves. They learned that they had the ability to do so much more than what society had planned out for them.
One day on a cold winter’s day in Deauville, Chanel took one of Capal’s sweaters like she had done many times before. But instead of pulling it over her head, to keep it from messing her clothes, she cut it down the front, finished off the edges with some ribbon and added a collar and bow. To her surprise the outfit became an instant hit. Women went crazy over it because it was fluid, soft, and most importantly, comfortable. It wasn’t long before Chanel started using the fabric to make more and more clothes which skyrocketed her success. “My fortune was founded on that old jersey,” Chanel remarked, “just because I was so cold in Deauville” (Wallach 25). Chanel was able to take full advantage of the opportunities offered as well as being able to turn her disadvantages into advantages. “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities…” (Gladwell, Outliers 155). The opportunities are there, and like Chanel, we just need to take them.
Works Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. David and Goliath. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2013. Print.
— -. Outliers. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Print.
Klein, Richard. “Chanel’s Cosmos.” Twentieth-Century/Contemporary French Studies
(2001): 251–262. Web. 1 March 2015.
Moneyball. Dir. Bennett Miller. Perf. Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, and Jonah Hill. Columbia Pictures, 2011. Film.
Picardie, Justine. “The secret life of Coco Chanel.” The Telegraph 5 Sep. 2010: Print.
Wallach, Janet. Chanel: Her Style and Her Life. New York: Nan A. Talese, 1998. Print.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Francine Voth, a biology major from St. Paul, Minnesota, seeks to become an animal rescuer as a marine biologist. Voth likes traveling all around the world, having long meaningful conversations on the beach, and breaking it down on the dance floor.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
I’m not an emotional person. I was always pushed by my parents to show more emotion. But I don’t, and that’s just who I am.
Time is everything, and if you manage it correctly, you can turn in your papers on time and go out with your friends on the same night.
I appreciate my parents so much more now that I don’t live with them. I remember nothing but good things from my childhood, and I owe that to them. I’m thankful for the amount of independence they gave me once I turned 18, but I also know that they’re always there for me if I need them.
A crappy job gets you good stories to talk about.
And so does reckless late nights with your friends.
My brother and I have a lot of commonalities. I noticed this once I moved out, and after meeting a lot of new people in college, I realized that no one could mimic the kind of relationship I have with him. We used to fight and get into arguments, but now I try to see him every chance I get.
I don’ like being told what to do from my friends. If I want your advice, I’ll ask for it.
Success is a result of the opportunities that are offered to us. It is not a random event, but something that requires ‘lucky breaks’ as well as of course talent and practice. It’s all about the people you meet, where you come from, and what year you were born.
What might seem like a disadvantage, can actually be turned into an advantage.
Coco Chanel grew up as a poor orphan in France. Her drive to escape from poverty is part of what got her to such success over the years. Because of her rough beginnings, she was able to grow from them and become a strong woman in a society largely dominated by men.
Anecdotes are what get people’s attention, so if you want to start your paper off right, start with a story.
Writing doesn’t have to be boring; if you show your personality in your paper and write about what your interested in, it will be worth your time.
Never. Never. NEVER make assumptions about people. Far too many times I’ve assumed bad things about people who’ve ended up being one of my best friends.
Take risks and chances as much as you can, that way you can be depicted from the crowd.
It was the night of spring registration my freshman year of college and of course I was one of the last time slots to be able to register. I sat in my room waiting for the clock to hit 7:00 pm so I could finally register. I could see how the seats in my Biodiversity class were quickly filling up. I started calling my upperclassmen friends who had already registered to hold a spot for me. Finally, my friend Sarah came through with the good news that she was able to register for Biodiversity. I was so incredibly happy and when it was time, I told her to drop the class so that I could take the last remaining spot. I guess you could say I cheated the system, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
