Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel (1883-1971)

In the fourth instalment of BoF’s fashion history series, we meet the creator of the ‘little black dress,’ who took her cues from a country in mourning. Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, the designer doyenne who founded fashion’s most famous house, used her lovers’ money to establish herself and rewrote the rulebook with her mannish collections.