Coco Chanel Life Lessons

Coco Chanel, the woman behind the Chanel brand, showed the world that fashion transcends the beauty and looks department.  Not only did she change the way people saw fashion, she also changed the way people saw women as leaders. While you may know the clothes created by the woman, how much do you know about the lessons taught by the iconic symbol?  Check out these truly inspiring lessons from Coco Chanel here:

1. Innovation of any kind needs a vision

When Coco Chanel introduced the world to the Chanel group, she gave women the chance to see a different side of clothes and fashion.  At a time when corsets and tight dresses were the norm of the day, Chanel made people realise there was a different way of dressing. Be it the boyish charms, the clean lines or the simplicity of her designs, everyone not only fell in love with her ideas, but with her entire brand.  The lesson here? Innovation is necessary to make people see the world in a different way!

2. Create the life you want

Coco Chanel was thrown into the deep end when her mother passed away when she was just 12 years old.  Her father, a peddler at the time, was financially strapped and with no way to look after his daughter, put her into an orphanage run by nuns.  The orphanage was where Coco Chanel’s love for fashion and clothes started. It was also where she realised she could be who she wanted, despite society telling her otherwise.  All she needed to do was grab life by the horns and make the best out of every situation. The nuns at the orphanage taught Coco Chanel how to sew.  From the moment she started learning how to sew, Coco Chanel realised she had something very beautiful at her disposal.  This skill laid the foundation for Coco Chanel working on what would become her empire, the Chanel group.

3. Your name is everything

When people see the Chanel brand, they think of the woman behind the brand first and then the group.  The reason this happened was because Coco Chanel put in so much effort into creating her brand, she made herself be known first.  Focus on creating something unique and focus on why your product stands out. Your name is what you make of yourself and when you put in all the effort you possibly can, things will fall into place.  Unlike what Shakespeare said, a lot goes into your name!

4. There is power in diversifying

While some brands become famous because they stick to one particular kind of trend, others become great because they know there is power in branching out.  Coco Chanel falls in the second category. She taught us, diversification is not only the best way to expand your product range, it is also the best way to ensure financial stability.  If one of the multiple things you are working on falls through, you always have a backup.

5. Respond to what the market wants

Perhaps one of the reasons Coco Chanel became so famous was because she gave her audience a product they didn’t think they wanted.  Women at that point of time needed to be told they could dress differently and if they didn’t have options to dress differently, Coco Chanel was there to give them the options.  Everything Coco Chanel did, she made sure to have her eye on what the market wants and by doing so, she quite literally changed the world.

Everything Coco Chanel did was aimed at making things better for women.  If you think we missed out on any other life lessons from the woman behind the Chanel group, comment and let us know!