
Gabrielle Chanel - qui a débuté comme modiste - a su en tant que couturière anticiper les besoins de nouveaux de la femme de l'après-guerre.
Discrète sur ses origines modestes, c'est Edmonde Charles-Roux qui dévoila dans son roman l'irrégulière la part d'ombre de celle que l'on surnomma Coco.
La légende indique ainsi : "Gabrielle Chanel, well-known dressmaker, has offered her business to her employees rather than make a settlement with them regarding wages and hours of labor, which she says, she cannot, under present business conditions, promise to be able to fulfill. She proposed to the workers that they carry on the business at their own risk and on their own termes and that she will, in the interest of French dressmaking, remain as an unpaid adviser in fashion matters."