In 1913, Coco opened a new boutique in Deauville and her line of jersey sportswear proved to be an instant hit. It changed the way that women felt about clothing and their lifestyles, too. She had led the revolution of dismissing the restrictive and tight corsets of the time in favor of comfort and casual elegance. This success led to the opening of the first Chanel Couture House in 1915, in Biarritz. Coco was now one of the most popular designers in Paris.
1921 saw the opening of another new office for the business, this time at 31 rue Cambon. It was here that Coco launched her now world-famous perfume, Number 5. This was followed, in 1924, by the founding of the 'Societe des Parfums Chanel' to produce, promote and sell the growing range of Chanel beauty products and perfumes. Coco was also commissioned to design the costumes for Jean Cocteau and Darius Milhaud's ballet, 'Le Train Bleu', that was performed by Diaghlev's Ballets Russes in the Theatre de Champs Elysees. At this time, her first costume jewelry range was also launched.
The first of Chanel's most famous pieces of clothing, the 'little black dress', was introduced in 1926. The fashion magazine, 'Vogue', announced it as the 'new uniform of the modern woman' and its equivalent still remains a mainstay of many women's collections today. After visiting Scotland, Coco began using tweed in 1928 and created her first tweed suits.
In 1955, Chanel introduced her first fragrance for men, Pour Homme. In the same year her quilted shoulder bag took on the design that is still in use today. Coco was awarded the Fashion Oscar in 1957 as the most influential designer of the 20th Century; a title she richly deserved. Not a bad achievement for a girl who had been born part of a family of six children to a poverty stricken French family.
Gabrielle Chanel died on 10th January, 1971. However, the House of Chanel continues to enjoy International success. This has been, most recently, under the control of Karl Lagerfeld, who was appointed 'Art Director' in 1983. From this point, Chanel would encompass a wide range of different styles and visions, but the classics of Coco still remain best sellers.
It would be impossible to fully track every aspect of the beginnings of mma. The Greeks, Romans, Cavemen? I will try to bring to you a history of mma that impacted the United States as I believe it occurred, and what is now the growing popularity in this reality fighting. When I use the term reality fighting, it refers to actual full contact striking and joint wrenching submissions. It is not meant to disrespect the traditional martial arts.
In Brazil there was a competition called vale tudo (Portuguese for anything goes) In the early nineties an elder son of a very respected Brazilian jiu-jitsu (bjj) master came to the United States. This elder son and his younger brother were giving Bjj lessons out of their garage. This elder son partnered with another man and began a very popular competition where fighters of different styles would fight each other abiding by only a few rules. The younger brother of the man you started this competition dominated the fighters that stood before him. Many of the fighters were of a standing style (karate,kung-fu,etc) when this young man would take them down and tie them in a pretzel they were at a loss on how to defend against it. At this time there were no time limits on rounds. This young man would hold on to his competitors like an anaconda; wearing them down and waiting for the right moment to apply a submission hold.
It did not take long for future fighters to start training in this young man’s style and start gaining there own submissions. One mistake was made though. Now they were getting knocked out. The new rules to this competition incorporated rounds, and if they were on the ground too long with no action the ref would stand them back up. Not exactly a grappler’s desire. With these new rules in place a new breed of fighter emerged.
Mma fighters had to find a new way to cope with the double threat of stand up and ground fighting. Many of these fighters started to cross train in both ground fighting and stand up. The world of mma in the United States would never be the same. It was no longer a matter of style versus style, but who had the better stand up OR ground game. It’s very complex if you think about it. Say fighter A is stronger at stand up than on the ground. His competitor, fighter B is equal at both, maybe a little better at standing and just as good a fighter as A on the ground. This scenario can be a combination of a lot of variables. There is strategy in these fights. They do not just go toe to toe with a fighter. They study their competitor and try to exploit their weakness.
Regardless where mma originated from, no one can deny the explosion this sport has seen, or the skill of these athletes. These are not brainless brawlers wanting to duke it out, they are skilled combatants with a strategy wanting to compete with other skilled fighters.
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