“In order to be irreplaceable, one must be different.” — Coco Chanel

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, an orphan raised in a convent, built Chanel into a $38 billion fashion brand based on a simple unconventional solution to a high-priority problem.

She disrupted the female fashion industry by rebelling against the status quo.

In 1910, women believed looking good meant feeling bad.

Women’s fashion was dominated by corsets and the hourglass silhouette, causing women a lot of discomfort.

Coco Chanel’s simple unconventional solution was, “Luxury must be comfortable; otherwise, it’s not luxury.”

Coco was problem-solving

The Problem:

Societal expectations dictated that women wore heavy fabrics and corsets that restricted movement and dug into them.

Most modern women disliked corsets but it was the culture and societal expectation of how a woman should look in the early 20th century.

Coco’s solution:

She ditched the corsets, and used lighter fabrics and unstructured silhouettes that gave women unprecedented comfort and freedom of movement — all with elegance and sophisticated style.

It was a simple unconventional solution to a high-priority problem, but Coco faced harsh criticism from the fashion press.

The fashion industry mocked her style.

“The most courageous act is still to think of yourself. Aloud.”

This is another important insight:

Pro disruption tip:

Most people focus on pleasing the industry, instead of solving the problems of the consumers within the industry — real disruptive change starts with consumers first and then the industry follows.

This is what Coco did.

Coco’s solution was a huge hit with modern women and the Chanel brand exploded in popularity.

People will pay a lot of money for solutions to their high-priority problems, and then tell all their friends about it.

This is the same ethos of every successful personal brand, freelance or solopreneur, artist or creator.

Find high-priority problems and solve them with unconventional solutions.

Coco’s Experiments That Built Her Fortune

Every unconventional solution to a high-priority problem begins with experiments.

Coco’s first success came from up-cycling a dress from an old jersey; other women stopped her on the street, asking where she bought it.

She later reflected on her up-cycling experiment: “My entire fortune is built on that old jersey.”

How an Orphan Disrupted the Fashion Industry

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was brought up in an orphanage after her mother died and her father abandoned her.

It was the nuns in the orphanage who taught her to sew, she spent her first eight years of employment as a seamstress before opening her first shop in Paris.

How She Disrupted The Fashion Industry

Step 1) Coco had an unconventional solution to a high-priority problem for modern women to experience comfortable luxury.

Step 2) She scratched her own itch: Coco made comfortable stylish clothes for herself, she solved her own problem as no one else was making the clothes she wanted to wear.

Step 3) Woman liked her clothes and asked where they could purchase them — Coco was a walking advertisement.

Step 4) Coco used innovative branding, marketing and storytelling to sell them to woman who shared the same worldview.

She created unique value by making comfortable fashion that no one else did.

She created a starving market. She wasn’t the best, she was the only.

Coco continued to innovate by introducing the concept of the “little black dress” and her fragrance Chanel No.5

Coco Chanel was a multipotentialite who niched up her skills to fulfil her creative business genius.

Coco’s skill stack:

✅ An unconventional solution to a high-priority problem

✅ Sewing and fashion design skills

✅ Innovative marketing and branding skills

✅ Cultural awareness of the modern woman's shifting needs

✅ Pattern recognition skills to spot and create fashion trends before anyone else.

This combination built a multi-billion dollar global powerhouse of a fashion brand on the simple contrarian idea that — “Luxury must be comfortable; otherwise, it’s not luxury.”

How Does This Relate To You?

We all have unique value within us.

We are born problem solvers, it’s the essence of our divergent thinking brains and our pattern recognition skills

We create unconventional solutions to high-priority problems with our interdisciplinary thinking.

People come to us, and we solve problems, often not knowing how we solved them, right?

You can feel the potential deep within you.

But you get stuck spinning your wheels.

“We unlock our purpose and earn more money not by niching down, but by stacking up our diverse skills to solve high-priority problems that no one else can do”
Steve Jobs famously said “Creativity is just connecting things”
This is our true creative potential, connecting our diverse skills to create unconventional solutions.

Why?

Because solving problems unconventionally unlocks innovation.

This is true in any industry.

But we can’t see it.

We can’t read the label when we’re stuck in the jar.

Spend a few moments thinking about this:

“What is it you believe to true in your industry or culture that most people would disagree with you about?”

Answer that and you may start to unlock your hidden creative potential.

Conclusion 🤔

We are unconventional creative thinkers who are born problem solvers.

People pay to have their high-priority problems solved.

When we fully embrace multipotentiality we don’t just think differently; we create unconventional solutions that make a meaningful difference.
Hope this helps ✌️

“In order to be irreplaceable, one must be different.” — Coco Chanel

Coco was problem-solving

The Problem:

Coco’s solution:

Pro disruption tip:

Coco’s Experiments That Built Her Fortune

How an Orphan Disrupted the Fashion Industry

How She Disrupted The Fashion Industry

She created a starving market. She wasn’t the best, she was the only.

How Does This Relate To You?

“We unlock our purpose and earn more money not by niching down, but by stacking up our diverse skills to solve high-priority problems that no one else can do”

Steve Jobs famously said “Creativity is just connecting things”

This is our true creative potential, connecting our diverse skills to create unconventional solutions.

“What is it you believe to true in your industry or culture that most people would disagree with you about?”

Conclusion 🤔

When we fully embrace multipotentiality we don’t just think differently; we create unconventional solutions that make a meaningful difference.

Niche Creator’s Substack

🤯✌️Unconventional Thinking