Fashion designer Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel (1883-1971) said, "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. People laughed at the way I dressed, but that was the secret of my success: I didn't look like anyone."

Chanel teaches us the importance of being different from others.

Chanel was born on August 20, 1883 as one of five children to an unmarried couple. Her mother died when she was twelve years old and a week later her father placed her in an orphanage where nuns raised her.

She adopted the name Coco during a brief career as a cafe and concert singer between 1905 and 1908. "First a mistress of a wealthy military officer then of an English industrialist, Coco Chanel drew on the resources of these patrons in setting up a millinery shop in Paris in 1910, expanding to Deauville and Biarritz." The two men also helped market her clothing and hats to women of society.

While women were used to wearing corset fashions, Chanel created a look that was casual and relaxed. Chanel herself dressed in men's clothing, and adapted these more comfortable fashions which other women also found liberating.

In 1922 Chanel introduced Chanel No. 5, which became one of the most popular perfumes. She also introduced her signature cardigan jacket in 1925 and signature "little black dress" in 1926. "Most of her fashions had a staying power, and didn't change much from year to year -- or even generation to generation."

During World War II, Coco Chanel briefly served as a nurse and the Nazi occupation of Paris meant that she had to close her fashion business for several years. During the war she had an affair with a Nazi officer and that resulted in some years of diminished popularity and an exile.

After the war ended she resumed making unique clothing and introduced the Chanel suit, pea jackets and bell bottom pants for women. She was still working in 1971 when she died.