Coco Chanel opened her first millinery shop in Paris in 1910.
The shop was called Chanel Modes and operated at 21 Rue Cambon. Chanel had begun creating hats while living with Étienne Balsan, a wealthy socialite and textile businessman, but Arthur “Boy” Capel provided the funds that enabled her to establish an independent Paris business.
Because the premises already housed an established clothing business, Chanel’s lease initially limited her to selling millinery. She therefore concentrated on hats rather than dresses, developing a restrained style that contrasted with the heavily decorated headwear popular at the time. Her business gained valuable publicity in 1912, when actress Gabrielle Dorziat wore one of Chanel’s hats in the play Bel Ami.
Some accounts also mention a hat-making operation at Balsan’s Paris residence in 1909. That earlier activity explains why 1909 sometimes appears in Chanel timelines, but 1910 is the conventional date for her first independent millinery shop. Her later move into clothing began at resorts such as Deauville and Biarritz.