Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer. Coco went with the nuns and she never got adopted, so she left the orphanage when she was 18 to work at a local tailor shop. The nuns taught Coco everything she knew about sewing and making clothes. She was a founder of the House of Chanel. She was the only fashion designer to be named on TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. She broke free of conventions and became a role model for some. Her behaviour during the German occupation of France in World War II led to criticism.