--- description: Coco Chanel is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century. title: Coco Chanel: 100 Women of the Year image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93360203f888d454/698a0afa01168265ce97f0ff/social-1924_Coco-Chanel.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 1924: Coco Chanel Mar 5, 2020 11:33 AM CUT  Buy the cover art→ Buy the cover art→Illustration by Kelly Hu for TIME; Heritage Images/Getty by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 5, 2020 11:33 AM CUT [Gabrielle “Coco” Chane](https://time.com/3994196/coco-chanel-1883/ "undefined")l, born in 1883, lived several lives before her death in 1971\. She was the shrewd businesswoman who developed one of the world’s most famous perfumes, only to lose control of the company that produced it. She presaged the era of logomania with her own symbol, two linked C’s. Opportunistically, she got through World War II by consorting with Nazis. But any woman today who loves elegant yet comfortable clothes owes her a debt. Chanel was one of the [first designers](https://time.com/5176149/coco-chanel-biography-orphanage/ "undefined") to use jersey fabric in fashionable day wear—dresses and suits and pleated skirts—that moved the dial away from restrictive corsets and useless frills. And because Chanel herself loved to borrow men’s clothes, in 1924, she designed a woman’s suit made of supple Scottish tweed, so softly and ingeniously tailored that it was a joy to wear. To this day, the [Chanel suit](https://time.com/5532582/karl-lagerfeld-best-chanel-fashion-shows/ "undefined") is a model marriage of practicality and beauty. The woman who brought it into the world knew that to move forward, you first had to be able to move. _—Stephanie Zacharek_ [**Buy the cover art→**](https://fineartamerica.com/featured/coco-chanel-1924-time.html "undefined") --- _This article is part of_ [_100 Women of the Year_](https://time.com/100-women-of-the-year/ "undefined")_, TIME’s list of the most influential women of the past century. Read more_ [_about the project_](https://time.com/5793734/time-100-women-of-the-year-issue/ "undefined")_, explore the_ [_100 covers_](https://time.com/5793732/time-100-women-of-the-year-covers/ "undefined") _and sign up for our_ [_Inside TIME newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/newsletters?newsletter%5Fname=INSIDE%5FTIME&source=article-woy-footer "undefined") _for more._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5792683/coco-chanel-100-women-of-the-year/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5792683/coco-chanel-100-women-of-the-year/"},"headline":"1924: Coco Chanel","datePublished":"2020-03-05T11:33:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T08:19:57.305Z","description":"Coco Chanel is one of the leaders, innovators, activists, entertainers, athletes and artists who defined the last century.","url":"https://time.com/5792683/coco-chanel-100-women-of-the-year/","keywords":["Women of the Year"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93360203f888d454/698a0afa01168265ce97f0ff/social-1924_Coco-Chanel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt93360203f888d454/698a0afa01168265ce97f0ff/social-1924_Coco-Chanel.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SOCIAL - Women of the Year: 1924_Coco-Chanel","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5792683/coco-chanel-100-women-of-the-year/","name":"1924: Coco Chanel"}}]}] ```