Coco Chanel was, above all, an independent being at a time when most women were economically and emotionally dependent on men, and she managed, through character and hard work, to transform her first hat shop into the most important fashion brand of the time, which would later also include perfumes (the legendary Chanel No. 5), accessories and beauty products. "Fashion passes, style remains", Chanel said in 1938, and hers was easy, practical, and made for the new sporty, independent, hard-working, and hedonistic women. After World War II, her elegance, charisma, and the support of style icons such as Romy Schneider and Jacky Kennedy elevated her figure to mythical status.