Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel, or Coco as she was more commonly known, founded opened her first boutique in 1910. Before she entered the glamorous world of women's fashion, Coco grew up in a poor family, always dreaming of living amongst the upper echelons of society. Within a year of opening her first small boutique that specialized in women's headwear, Coco took her namesake brand to the posh no. 31 Rue Cambon in Paris.

Chanel is known among fashion historians as revolutionizing haute couture. She passed on the traditional corset in lieu of comfortable and elegant suits and dresses. Oh, yeah, forget about the fact that she wasn't afraid to put women in suits. In 1925, Coco introduced her now signature cardigan jacket. Nothing says class like a classic Chanel suit. Think big gold buttons, tightly woven wool with a black trim, a knee length skirt with a boxy jacket, lots of pearls, and the classiest French women in Paris. In 1926, the world met its match when Chanel birthed "the little black dress" and many other celebrity fashions. It's astonishing that something so simple and so classic literally changed and modernized fashion in one fell swoop. Chanel is also known for its classic quilted patterning that you can find on anything from her jackets and skirts to accessories and handbags.

Of course, before Chanel changed the face of fashion as we know it, she changed the way it smelled. In 1921, Coco created Chanel no. 5 - arguably the most famous perfume ever created. The fragrance is a mixture of Vetiver, Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine, Neroli, and Aldehydes. There are a handful of myths surrounding the scent's name - five was Coco's lucky number, this scent was the fifth sample she smelled, she initially smelled it on the fifth day of the fifth month of the year... the list goes on and on. Although a handful of other fragrances followed in No. 5's footsteps, nothing holds a candle to the fame reached by her original parfum.

In 1983, Karl Lagerfeld took over the helm at Chanel and has been leading the way ever since. He has given the classic vibe and feel of Chanel a face lift, reintroducing the label to the masses and updating the classic designs. He is continually modernizing the brand that defined modernization in fashion. Additionally, Chanel handbags, Chanel accessories, and Chanel watches have reached a new height of popularity in recent years thanks to the rejuvenated interest in the label by young Hollywood.