#8. Coco Chanel

The late Coco Chanel was a successful fashion designer and her name still resonates today. Chanel was born in France in 1883 and has been credited with giving women a completely new fashion identity in the years after World War I.

Before she became renowned for her clothing, Chanel dreamed of a life on the stage as a singer. When that didn’t pan out, she fell back on her skills as a seamstress and began making clothing. A wealthy lover of Chanel’s financed her first shops and the stage was set for her to become a household name.

Her boutique shops offered clothes, hats, and other accessories. Chanel later expanded into fragrances and jewelry. Chanel once said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”

Until the 1920s, women’s fashion was very conservative and restrictive: long dresses and clothing that was not suitable for movement or activity. Chanel changed all of that with her designs, including introducing suits and pants for women.

Chanel never married or had children. She died in Paris at the age of 87 in 1971.