Les Amants de demain,
Edith Piaf jazzy voice playing,
On my lap sits a breaking book,
That of a woman behind a great legend
Possibly crossed paths with Edith Piaf
Gabrielle Chanel was a gift to a peasant family,
No royal blood nor extraordinaire genes,
She lost her dear mother at a tender age,
Her tiny broken heart slashed even longer,
As her father left her to an orphanage
She left the guardian of her caring nuns,
Vigorously working and sewing with passion,
Dappled in singing and nicknamed Coco,
She met the flamboyant dashing Etienne,
A mistress she became but unlike any other,
She knew her passion lies elsewhere
Many a dozen gorgeous hats she invented,
The work of her hands exuded pure creativity,
An artisan unlike the designers of her time,
Driven both by feminism and brokenness
She chose not to be dictated by men
Designing clothes to liberate women
Encouraged by charming Boy Capel,
Etienne's friend but turned Gabrielle's lover,
She poured her heart into her creations
Her inventions and romance blossomed
Boy Capel became the love of her life
Inspiration from her humble origins,
Motivations to rise beyond the heirs of luxury
An inventor she was to first use jersey
Discarding corsets and restricted clothes
Practicality and comfort she introduced
She soared as a woman of freedom,
Her success flourished even amongst men,
Intimidation yet admiration from them
A genius to fuse menswear into womenswear,
A call none would have dared to attempt
A rising star in the eyes of many,
Her unmended heart pierced without ending,
Boy Capel married an aristocrat beauty,
Still she clung on whatever's left of his affections,
Till the day he met an accident and parted for good
Gone was the great love of her life,
She plunged her sorrows into a cocoon,
A cocoon she built with her whole being,
Heart, body and soul she dived endlessly,
Dressing women she made her first priority
A grand butterfly her cocoon became,
Mirrored staircases as her beautiful wings,
Chanel No 5 parfum her intricate antennas
A couture house her garden to roam and fly
She took flight in the world of fashion
Tirelessly she toiled neverending hours
Impeccable taste and surprising luxury
She broke every rule known to fashion
A genius from every sense of couturiers
The work of her hands the mention of all
An easy escape from her lifelong pain
A mask she created to hide the little girl
Abandoned by those she loved most
Expressions of her life flowed into her hands
Forming a legacy now known as Chanel
A sad tale though her life seemed to had woven,
Her surviving spirit was what filled me with awe,
Neverending passion fighting for what she believed,
Creating what most would have never dreamt of,
We owe her more than just clothes and fashion
p/s: I would like to pay tribute to Gabrielle Coco Chanel not just for changing the way women dressed and her endless contributions to fashion and women's rights' movement (through fashion) but for her passion in the work of her hands..never giving up till her last breath. Look beyond her many misdeeds, my heart goes out to the broken little girl in her and may her soul rests in peace where it never did in this world
