The feet of the bench beside her grave are shaped like lion’s paws; white, representing the color of her favorite flower—the camellia—and the iconic number 5. 

Details make all the difference.

For Chanel, luxury is defined by the unseen—enhanced by a certain visual simplicity. She rejected the values of the 19th century that preceded her and once told Paul Morand that true luxury is spending a great deal of money without it being obvious.

Her final resting place in Lausanne’s Bois-de-Vaux remains true to that ethos. The richness is palpable, but never ostentatious. The trained eye is drawn to the symbols that have become globally recognized. Once decoded, they reveal a total look built from carefully chosen elements—each with its purpose: the signature gold chain that weights a jacket for perfect drape, the distinctive quilted stitching of the 2.55 bag that strengthens the jersey fabric she discovered by chance during the shortages of World War I, the functional buttonholes—never just decorative—sometimes shaped like lion heads, camellias, or engraved with the iconic interlocking Cs..

Indeed, Gabrielle Chanel’s world is made of these deeply personal details—so much so that she anticipated their presence even in her final refuge. To admire this place, to absorb its quiet symbolism, is to be carried through the extraordinary journey of Mademoiselle Coco Chanel, which began on August 9, 1883

Crafting Her Own Myth

Orphaned at a young age, Gabrielle Chanel would spend her life reshaping the truth of her past, contributing to the construction of her own legend. She even commissioned Louise de Vilmorin to ghostwrite her memoirs, reinventing herself as a child of prosperous rural bourgeoisie, surrounded by luxury. According to Guillaume Erner, Chanel’s creativity was fueled by a desire for revenge—born from a loveless, unhappy childhood. She confided to Paul Morand that hers was “the childhood of an orphan, taken in, without a home, without love, without father or mother.”

So she romanticized her solitude. In 1906, while singing Qui qu’a vu Coco dans l’Trocadéro, officers and soldiers in the audience called for an encore, chanting “Coco, Coco!” Chanel would later claim the nickname came from her father—a version of the story she kept for life. From that audience of music hall admirers, several men would go on to play pivotal roles in the creation of the Chanel empire.

The Men Who Lifted Her Up

Étienne Balsan introduced Gabrielle Chanel to the world of the demi-monde—a theatrical society of courtesans, glamorized by Dumas fils as a path to social ascent for women from humble origins. It was at Balsan’s estate in Royallieu that Chanel discovered equestrian art. At 26, she watched his horses train at the southern racetracks and began to shape her own style—described in L’Irrégulière by Edmonde Charles-Roux and later adapted to film by Anne Fontaine—as “white collar, tie, and boater hat.”

Determined to stand apart—and above all, not to resemble a cocotte—Chanel cultivated a look rooted in masculine elegance and restraint. The second key figure in her rise was Englishman Arthur “Boy” Capel, whom she met on horseback. He would become her lover and financial backer, funding her first boutique in Deauville, originally a hat shop that quickly expanded to include blouses, jackets, and sailor tops.

By 1914, according to Paul Morand, Mademoiselle Chanel was witnessing “the death of luxury, the end of the 19th century, the fall of an era.” Her emerging style reflected this shift, giving birth to what Danièle Bott later called “the poverty of billionaires”—lavish simplicity, quiet elegance, and an understated luxury that avoided ostentation. For Chanel, true luxury was perfection without flash, the antithesis not of poverty, but of vulgarity.

When war broke out and fabric became scarce, her supplier Rodier offered only a humble jersey. Unexpectedly, this constraint sparked a revolution: Chanel embraced the material, and in doing so, transformed women’s fashion forever.

Through Étienne Balsan and then Arthur Capel, Gabrielle Chanel entered the closed world of the upper bourgeoisie. These two encounters were crucial to her success: the clothes she designed were not for her own social class, but for the one she came to know through these men. Chanel’s social circle played a key role in the rise of her empire—not only because her clients came from this world, but because it deeply influenced her style. Figures like Picasso, Cocteau, and the Duke of Westminster would go on to inspire her iconic tweed suit.

Coco Chanel’s Inner Circle

Coco Chanel’s Inner Circle included luminaries like Diaghilev, Misia Sert, Henri Bernstein, and Jean Marais—figures who played a key role in shaping and liberating the full expression of the Chanel look. Since 1911, that look has been accompanied by a fragrance that was revolutionary for its time: composed of 85 ingredients—including an accidental overdose of jasmine—it was bottled in a minimalist flacon labeled simply No. 5, black text on a white background.

But beyond her talents as a fashion designer, Mademoiselle Chanel was also a master strategist. She launched the perfume in spectacular fashion at one of Cannes' finest restaurants, secretly releasing the scent into the air via hidden atomizers. The fragrance captivated the room. Back in Paris, she offered bottles to select elite clients—who, enchanted, demanded more. Yet Chanel refused to mass-produce it immediately, creating scarcity—an essential element of luxury.

Her luck soared across the Atlantic when Marilyn Monroe famously declared she wore “nothing to bed but a few drops of Chanel No. 5.” The perfume became a legend, transcending time through muses like Vanessa Paradis, Anna Mouglalis, Nicole Kidman, and Audrey Tautou. Today, Chanel No. 5 remains the world’s best-selling fragrance.

Having defined a style and a scent, Chanel turned her attention to accessories, determined to dress the woman completely.

True to her contradictions, in 1924 she launched a line of costume jewelry, mixing rhinestones with semi-precious stones. Yet just eight years later, in the wake of the 1929 crash, she embraced extravagance, unveiling Bijoux de Diamants, her first high jewelry collection—diamonds set in platinum, displayed not in cases, but on wax mannequins.

The Exterminating Angel of 19th-Century Style

At the height of her fame in September 1939, “the exterminating angel of 19th-century style”—as Paul Morand liked to call Mademoiselle Coco—closed her couture ateliers at the age of 56. The reasons were many: rising competition from names like Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet forced the usually reclusive Chanel into the spotlight; her personal life was marked by profound losses in love and friendship; and France was gripped by political and social turmoil.

She told Paul Morand that the times no longer suited dresses, and so began a long, bitter exile. Chanel sought refuge in Lausanne, Switzerland, where for 15 years she mourned, found solace, and eventually made the region her primary home.

By August 1953, as noted by Henry Gidel, “the name Chanel meant little more than a famous perfume.” The name on everyone's lips was now Dior. On February 12, 1947, Christian Dior—a former designer for Lucien Lelong, backed by textile magnate Marcel Boussac—unveiled his first collection at 30 Avenue Montaigne. With it, postwar French haute couture was reborn.

The Rebirth

Was it the rise of the New Look—with its return to corsets and girdles, the very constraints Gabrielle Chanel had long fought against—that compelled her back into the spotlight? Was it the desire to revive the success of her legendary No. 5, leveraging a triumphant return to fashion to boost the brand's profile and sales? Was it boredom? A need to fulfill her destiny, to reclaim her story after heartbreak?

Whatever the reason, on February 5, 1954, Mademoiselle Chanel made headlines once more with a comeback collection after years of silence. While the French press met her return with skepticism, Vogue’s U.S. editor Bettina Ballard, dressed in one of Chanel’s new suits, praised a style that resonated with American practicality and elegance.

Admiration & Legacy

By the twilight of her life, Chanel's iconic suit had become a staple in the wardrobes of elite women worldwide. Its popularity was such that unauthorized copies began to appear. Yet Chanel viewed imitation not with disdain, but with perspective. She told Paul Morand:

“Racine and Molière never suffered from schoolteachers. On the page of a plagiarist, there is admiration and love.”

Mademoiselle Coco Chanel, who channeled heartbreak into fierce creative discipline, passed away on Sunday, January 10, 1971—fittingly, the very day her couture house was closed. A poetic end to the life of a woman who forever changed the face of fashion.