Coco Chanel
Despite the meager beginnings Coco Chanel worked her way into the upper echelons of society Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The overlapping 'Cs' of Chanel have become one of the most recognised insignias, both in and out of the fashion world and it all began with a French designer Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel back in 1909. And 19 August happens to be the 133<sup>rd birth anniversary of the woman who brought a new infusion of class and femininity to clothing while sewing it together with her personal strain of woman power.

Known most popularly by her pet name Coco, Chanel started off in poverty as the daughter of an unmarried couple. She grew up to work as a seamstress and a cabaret singer. She later began designing hats and moved on to clothing, jewellery, bags and later perfumes.

More from IBTimes UK

Along with Paul Poiret, Chanel was credited in the post-World War I era with liberating women from the constraints of the "corseted silhouette" and popularising a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style.

It was also discovered that the famed couturière was linked to German intelligence operations at the time. By 1971, Chanel died in her sleep at the age of 87, leaving behind a fashion empire that would only continue to grow in scale and repute over the years.

In keeping with her birth anniversary, IBTimes UK has listed some of the fashionista's most memorable quotes.

  • Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.
  • ashion fades, only style remains the same.
  • There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time!
  • Women have always been the strong ones of the world. The men are always seeking from women a little pillow to put their heads down on. They are always longing for the mother who held them as infants.
Coco Chanel
French high fashion designer Coco Chanel in 1944 in Paris AFP/Getty Images
  • In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.
  • Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.
  • The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
  • A woman who doesn't wear perfume has no future.
  • I am not young but I feel young. The day I feel old, I will go to bed and stay there. J'aime la vie! I feel that to live is a wonderful thing.
  • Great loves too must be endured.