... birth of Haute Couture. From her first millinery shop, opened in 1912, to the 1920s, Coco Chanel rose to become one of the premier fashion designers in Paris. Replacing the corset with comfort and casual elegance, her fashion themes included simple suits and dresses, women's trousers, costume jewellery, perfume and textiles. Her relaxed fashions, short skirts, and casual look were in ... sharp contrast to the corset fashions popular in the previous decades. Chanel herself dressed in mannish clothes, and adapted these more comfortable fashions which other women also found liberating. She...

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