25 Famous Coco Chanel Quotes On Fashion and Life

“Coco Chanel, 1936” by thefoxling is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman who was considered the most revolutionary stylist of the 1900s. Her simple yet sophisticated design inspired women to abandon the complicated, uncomfortable clothes, such as the “corseted silhouette” that was ruling beforehand. Chanel made herself more known when she launched her first perfume and eventually introduced Chanel suits and “little black dress” that became her fashion icon.

Coco Chanel Quotes

“Fashion is like a revolution — it only enters our lives after it has gone down into the streets.”

COCO CHANEL, Life (19 August 1957)

“Fashion does not exist unless it goes down into the streets.”

“There is time for work, and time for love. That leaves no other time.”

COCO CHANEL, The Gospel According to Coco (2011)

“Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress.”

“All men are children anyway and if you understand that, a woman understands everything.”

COCO CHANEL, John Fairchild The Fashionable Savages (1965)

“One cannot be forever innovating. I want to create classics.”

COCO CHANEL, Quoted in Coco Chanel: Her Life, Her Secrets (1971) by Marcel Haedrich

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”

“I was a rebellious child, a rebellious lover, a rebellious couturière — a real devil.”

COCO CHANEL, As quoted in Paris, Paris : Journey Into the City of Light (2005) by David Downie, p. 93

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

“The problem of aging is the problem of living. There is no simple solution.”

COCO CHANEL, McCall’s (November 1965)

“Happiness is the secret of beauty. But who knows the secret of happiness? The wise woman keeps her cosmetics at hand.”

COCO CHANEL, McCall’s (May 1968)

“Fashion is architecture. It is a matter of proportions.”

“As long as you know that most men are like children, you know everything.”

COCO CHANEL, `As quoted in Thinking Through the Essay (1986) by Judith Barker-Sandbrook and Neil Graham, p. 158

“If you were born without wings do nothing to prevent their growing.”

“Saint Laurent has excellent taste. The more he copies me, the better taste he displays.”

COCO CHANEL, The New York Times Biographical Service, Volume 2 (New York Times & Arno Press, 1971), p. 88

“Youth is something very new: Twenty years ago no one mentioned it.”

COCO CHANEL, As quoted in Coco Chanel : Her Life, Her Secrets (1971)

“Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not. It is the opposite of vulgarity.”

“A woman is closest to being naked when she is well dressed.”

COCO CHANEL, As quoted in: The Connoisseur, Volume 213 (Hearst Corporation, 1983), p. 89

“A dress made right should allow one to walk, to dance, even to ride horseback.”

COCO CHANEL, The Good Housekeeping Women’s Almanac (1977)

“Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.”

“Look for the woman in the dress. If there is no woman, there is no dress.”

COCO CHANEL, in New York Times 23 August 1964

“The best colour in the world is the one that looks good on you.”

“Some people pursue unhappiness because happiness is too mild a sensation.”

COCO CHANEL, McCall’s (May 1968)

“Jump out of the window if you are the object of passion. Flee it, if you feel it… passion goes, boredom remains.”

COCO CHANEL, McCall’s (November 1965)

“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”

If you enjoyed reading these quotes from Coco Chanel, feel free to check out these 30 Memorable Virginia Woolf Quotes About Understanding Life!

Some Interesting Facts about Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel’s original name was Gabrielle Chanel. She acquired the name Coco during her singing days and later revealed that Coco was the nickname given by her father. Chanel started as a cabaret singer. She grew up in an orphanage, and there she learned to sew. She opened her first boutique in Paris and named it Chanel Modes. She lived in Hotel Ritz, Paris, for more than 30 years and passed away there in 1971.

She introduced pants for women, and the idea came to her when she was travelling by gondola in Venice. Her zodiac sign was Leo, and hence the symbol of Lion is present in Chanel’s jewellery. Black was her favourite colour. Her Headstone was designed by herself and featured the emblematic lion.

After having a 10-year affair with the second Duke of Westminster, she refused his marriage proposal and mentioned, “There are lots of Duchesses, but only one Coco Chanel.” She never used to design for free, and hence she never designed even for royalty. She also used to criticise the contemporary designers of her time every now and then. She never appreciated the idea of mini skirts. 

She was buried in her favourite Chanel suit, a beige and white tweet suit decorated with the designer’s iconic gold buttons and braid. 

If you enjoyed reading these facts about Coco Chanel, then you should also check out these Interesting Facts About Oprah Winfrey!

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