Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel founded her first millinery shop in Paris in 1910 and over the next four decades single-handedly dismantled the Victorian fashion system — replacing corsets, heavy fabrics, and elaborate decoration with the jersey fabric suit, the little black dress, and Chanel No. 5 (launched 1921). The Chanel brand is now worth $13.7 billion (2024) and remains the most recognizable luxury fashion house in the world.