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• Coco Chanel was born to unwed parents in France in 1883.

• Chanel was abandoned by her father within one week of her mother's death.

• Chanel was taken in by an orphanage, then to a convent.

• At eighteen Chanel ran away from the convent and went to work in a shop in Moulins.
• Chanel attempted to make a career in the theatre.

• Chanel became mistress to Etienne Balsan at age twenty-five.

• With Chanel's style and vibrancy she became "the darling of all the young lions of the age."
• With financial help from "Boy" Capel Chanel opened her first millinery shop.

• Chanel rose to success in spite of WWII.

• An affair with a German officer caused Chanel to go into self-imposed exile in Switzerland.

• Chanel returned to Paris in 1954, spurred by her competitiveness with Christian Dior.

Introduction

• Chanel's family came from a village in the Cevennes called Ponteils.

• Chanel's great-grandfather...

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