Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971)
was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
brand, she was credited in the post-
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
era with popularizing a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style. This replaced the "
corset
A corset is a support garment commonly worn to hold and train the torso into a desired shape, traditionally a smaller waist or larger bottom, for aesthetic or medical purposes (either for the duration of wearing it or with a more lasting effe ...
ed silhouette" that was dominant beforehand with a style that was simpler, far less time consuming to put on and remove, more comfortable, and less expensive, all without sacrificing elegance. She is the only fashion designer listed on ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine's
list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
A prolific fashion creator, Chanel extended her influence beyond
couture clothing, realizing her aesthetic design in jewellery, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent,
Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...
, has become an iconic product, and Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920s.
Her couture house closed in 1939, with the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Chanel stayed in France and was criticized during the war for collaborating with the Nazi-German occupiers and the Vichy puppet regime to boost her professional career. One of Chanel's liaisons was with a German diplomat, Baron (''
Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire ...
'') Hans Günther von Dincklage.
After the war, Chanel was interrogated about her relationship with Dincklage, but she was not charged as a
collaborator due to intervention by British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
.
When the war ended, Chanel moved to Switzerland, returning to Paris in 1954 to revive her fashion house. In 2011,
Hal Vaughan
Hal Weston Vaughan (1928–October 17, 2013) was an American author and journalist based in Paris, France. He held several posts as a US Foreign Service officer before becoming a journalist on assignments in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast ...
published a book about Chanel based on newly declassified documents, revealing that she had collaborated directly with the Nazi intelligence service, the ''
Sicherheitsdienst
' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
''. One plan in late 1943 was for her to carry an
SS peace overture to Churchill to end the war.
Early life
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 to Eugénie Jeanne Devolle Chanel, known as Jeanne, a
laundrywoman
Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...
, in the charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence (a
poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
Workhouses
In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...
) in
Saumur
Saumur () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.
The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgueil, Coteaux du Layon, etc.. Saumur statio ...
, Maine-et-Loire.
She was Jeanne's second child with Albert Chanel; the first, Julia, had been born less than a year earlier.
Albert Chanel was an itinerant street vendor who peddled work clothes and undergarments,
living a nomadic life, travelling to and from market towns. The family resided in run-down lodgings. In 1884, he married Jeanne Devolle,
persuaded to do so by her family who had "united, effectively, to pay Albert".
At birth, Chanel's name was entered into the official registry as "Chasnel". Jeanne was too unwell to attend the registration, and Albert was registered as "travelling".
With both parents absent, the infant's last name was misspelled, probably due to a clerical error.
She went to her grave as Gabrielle Chasnel because to correct, legally, the misspelled name on her birth certificate would reveal that she was born in a poorhouse hospice. The couple had six
children—Julia, Gabrielle, Alphonse (the first boy, born 1885), Antoinette (born 1887), Lucien, and Augustin (who died at six months)
—and lived crowded into a one-room lodging in the town of
Brive-la-Gaillarde
Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was 7 ...
.
When Gabrielle was 11,
Jeanne died at the age of 32.
The children did not attend school.
Her father sent his two sons to work as farm laborers and sent his three daughters to the convent of
Aubazine
Aubazines (; oc, Obasina), also spelled ''Aubazine'', is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aubazinois'' or ''Aubazinoises''.
Geography
Aubaz ...
, which ran an orphanage. Its religious order, the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Mary, was "founded to care for the poor and rejected, including running homes for abandoned and orphaned girls".
It was a stark, frugal life, demanding strict discipline. Placement in the orphanage may have contributed to Chanel's future career, as it was where she learned to sew. At age eighteen, Chanel, too old to remain at Aubazine, went to live in a boarding house for Catholic girls in the town of
Moulins.
Later in life, Chanel would retell the story of her childhood somewhat differently; she would often include more glamorous accounts, which were generally untrue.
She said that when her mother died, her father sailed for America to seek his fortune, and she was sent to live with two aunts. She also claimed to have been born a decade later than 1883 and that her mother had died when she was much younger than 11.
Personal life and early career
Aspirations for a stage career
Having learned to sew during her six years at
Aubazine
Aubazines (; oc, Obasina), also spelled ''Aubazine'', is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aubazinois'' or ''Aubazinoises''.
Geography
Aubaz ...
, Chanel found employment as a
seamstress
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician.
Nota ...
. When not sewing, she sang in a
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
frequented by cavalry officers. Chanel made her stage debut singing at a ''
cafe-concert'' (a popular entertainment venue of the era) in a
Moulins pavilion, ''La Rotonde''. She was a ''poseuse'', a performer who entertained the crowd between star turns. The money earned was what they managed to accumulate when the plate was passed. It was at this time that Gabrielle acquired the name "Coco" when she spent her nights singing in the cabaret, often the song, "Who Has Seen Coco?" She often liked to say the nickname was given to her by her father. Others believe "Coco" came from ''Ko Ko Ri Ko'', and ''Qui qu'a vu Coco'', or it was an allusion to the French word for
kept woman
A mistress is a woman who is in a relatively long-term sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a different woman.
Description
A mistress is in a long-term relationship with her attached mister, and is often referred to ...
, ''cocotte''. As an entertainer, Chanel radiated a juvenile allure that tantalized the military habitués of the cabaret.
In 1906, Chanel worked in the spa resort town of
Vichy
Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais.
It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...
. Vichy boasted a profusion of concert halls, theatres, and cafés where she hoped to achieve success as a performer. Chanel's youth and physical charms impressed those for whom she auditioned, but her singing voice was marginal and she failed to find stage work.
Obliged to find employment, she took work at the ''Grande Grille'', where as a ''donneuse d'eau'' she was one whose job was to dispense glasses of the purportedly curative mineral water for which Vichy was renowned.
When the Vichy season ended, Chanel returned to Moulins, and her former haunt ''La Rotonde''. She realized then that a serious stage career was not in her future.
Balsan and Capel
![Sem Chanel Capel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Sem_Chanel_Capel.jpg)
At Moulins, Chanel met a young French ex-cavalry officer and textile heir,
Étienne Balsan
Étienne Balsan (February 11, 1878 – 1953) was born in Paris, France, as Fulcran Étienne Balsan.
Life
A French socialite and heir, he was born into the family of wealthy industrialists from Châteauroux (Indre) who created Balsan (Company ...
. At the age of twenty-three, Chanel became Balsan's mistress, supplanting the
courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...
Émilienne d'Alençon
Émilienne d'Alençon (17 July 1870 – 14 February 1945) was a French dancer, actress, and courtesan.
Biography
Born in Paris, d'Alençon made her début at the Cirque d'été in 1889 before appearing at the Casino de Paris, Menus-Plaisirs, F ...
as his new favourite.
For the next three years, she lived with him in his château Royallieu near Compiègne, an area known for its wooded equestrian paths and the hunting life.
It was a lifestyle of self-indulgence. Balsan's wealth allowed the cultivation of a social set that reveled in partying and the gratification of human appetites, with all the implied accompanying decadence. Balsan showered Chanel with the baubles of "the rich life"—diamonds, dresses, and pearls. Biographer Justine Picardie, in her 2010 study ''Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life'', suggests that the fashion designer's nephew, André Palasse, supposedly the only child of her sister Julia-Berthe who had committed suicide, was Chanel's child by Balsan.
In 1908, Chanel began an affair with one of Balsan's friends,
Captain Arthur Edward 'Boy' Capel.
[ In later years, Chanel reminisced of this time in her life: "two gentlemen were outbidding for my hot little body."] Capel, a wealthy member of the English upper class, installed Chanel in an apartment in Paris. and financed her first shops. It is said that Capel's sartorial style influenced the conception of the Chanel look. The bottle design for Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...
had two probable origins, both attributable to her association with Capel. It is believed Chanel adapted the rectangular, bevelled lines of the Charvet toiletry bottles he carried in his leather travelling case or she adapted the design of the whiskey decanter Capel used. She so much admired it that she wished to reproduce it in "exquisite, expensive, delicate glass". The couple spent time together at fashionable resorts such as Deauville
Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...
, but despite Chanel's hopes that they would settle together, Capel was never faithful to her. Their affair lasted nine years. Even after Capel married an English aristocrat, Lady Diana Wyndham in 1918, he did not completely break off with Chanel. He died in a car accident on 22 December 1919.['']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 24 December 1919, p. 10: "Captain Arthur Capel, who was killed in an automobile crash on Monday, is being buried today". A roadside memorial at the site of Capel's accident is said to have been commissioned by Chanel. Twenty-five years after the event, Chanel, then residing in Switzerland, confided to her friend, Paul Morand, "His death was a terrible blow to me. In losing Capel, I lost everything. What followed was not a life of happiness, I have to say."
Chanel had begun designing hats while living with Balsan, initially as a diversion that evolved into a commercial enterprise. She became a licensed milliner
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of g ...
in 1910 and opened a boutique at 21 rue Cambon, Paris, named ''Chanel Modes''. As this location already housed an established clothing business, Chanel sold only her millinery creations at this address. Chanel's millinery career bloomed once theatre actress Gabrielle Dorziat
Gabrielle Dorziat (1880–1979) was a French stage and film actress. Dorziat was a fashion trend setter in Paris and helped popularize the designs of Coco Chanel. The Théâtre Gabrielle-Dorziat in Épernay, France is named for her.
Biography
S ...
wore her hats in Fernand Nozière's play ''Bel Ami'' in 1912. Subsequently, Dorziat modelled Chanel's hats again in photographs published in ''Les Modes''.
Deauville and Biarritz
In 1913, Chanel opened a boutique in Deauville
Deauville () is a commune in the Calvados department, Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its harbour, race course, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino, and sumptuous hotels. The first Deauville Asian Film Fes ...
, financed by Arthur Capel, where she introduced deluxe casual clothing suitable for leisure and sport. The fashions were constructed from humble fabrics such as jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
and tricot, at the time primarily used for men's underwear.[ The location was a prime one, in the center of town on a fashionable street. Here Chanel sold hats, jackets, sweaters, and the ''marinière'', the sailor blouse. Chanel had the dedicated support of two family members, her sister Antoinette, and her paternal aunt Adrienne, who was of a similar age.] Adrienne and Antoinette were recruited to model Chanel's designs; on a daily basis the two women paraded through the town and on its boardwalks, advertising the Chanel creations.
Chanel, determined to re-create the success she enjoyed in Deauville, opened an establishment in Biarritz
Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. ...
in 1915. Biarritz, on the Côte Basque, close to wealthy Spanish clients, was a playground for the moneyed set and those exiled from their native countries by the war. The Biarritz shop was installed not as a store-front, but in a villa opposite the casino. After one year of operation, the business proved to be so lucrative that in 1916 Chanel was able to reimburse Capel's original investment. In Biarritz Chanel met an expatriate aristocrat, the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia
Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia (russian: Великий Князь Дмитрий Павлович; 18 September 1891 – 5 March 1942) was a son of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia, a grandson of Tsar Alexander II of Russia and a ...
. They had a romantic interlude, and maintained a close association for many years afterward. By 1919, Chanel was registered as a ''couturière'' and established her ''maison de couture'' at 31 rue Cambon, Paris.
Established couturière
In 1918, Chanel purchased the building at 31 rue Cambon, in one of the most fashionable districts of Paris. In 1921, she opened an early incarnation of a fashion boutique
A boutique () is a small shop that deals in fashionable clothing or accessories. The word is French for "shop", which derives ultimately from the Ancient Greek ἀποθήκη (''apothēkē'') "storehouse".
The term ''boutique'' and also ''d ...
, featuring clothing, hats, and accessories, later expanded to offer jewellery and fragrances. By 1927, Chanel owned five properties on the rue Cambon, buildings numbered 23 to 31.
In the spring of 1920, Chanel was introduced to the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
by Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...
, impresario of the Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Revolution disrupted society. A ...
. During the summer, Chanel discovered that the Stravinsky family sought a place to live, having left the Russian Soviet Republic after the war. She invited them to her new home, ''Bel Respiro'', in the Paris suburb of ''Garches
Garches () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
Garches has remained largely residential, but is also the location of Raymond Poincaré University Hospital, which specialises in traumatol ...
'', until they could find a suitable residence. They arrived at ''Bel Respiro'' during the second week of September and remained until May 1921. Chanel also guaranteed the new (1920) Ballets Russes production of Stravinsky's ''Le Sacre du Printemps
''The Rite of Spring''. Full name: ''The Rite of Spring: Pictures from Pagan Russia in Two Parts'' (french: Le Sacre du printemps: tableaux de la Russie païenne en deux parties) (french: Le Sacre du printemps, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral ...
'' ('The Rite of Spring') against financial loss with an anonymous gift to Diaghilev, said to be 300,000 francs. In addition to turning out her couture collections, Chanel threw herself into designing dance costumes for the Ballets Russes. In the years 1923–1937, she collaborated on productions choreographed by Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...
, notably ''Le Train bleu
The ''Calais-Mediterranée Express'' was a French luxury night express train which operated from 1886 to 2003. It gained international fame as the preferred train of wealthy and famous passengers between Calais and the French Riviera during the ...
'', a dance-opera; ''Orphée'' and ''Oedipe Roi''.
In 1922, at the Longchamps races, Théophile Bader
Théophile Bader (24 April 1864 – 16 March 1942), co-founder of Galeries Lafayette, was a French businessman and art collector whose family was persecuted during the Nazi occupation of France because of their Jewish heritage.
Early life
Théop ...
, founder of the Paris Galeries Lafayette
The Galeries Lafayette () is an upmarket French department store chain, the biggest in Europe. Its flagship store is on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris but it now operates in a number of other locations in France and othe ...
, introduced Chanel to businessman Pierre Wertheimer
Pierre Wertheimer (8 January 1888 – 24 April 1965) was a French businessman, who co-founded Chanel with Coco Chanel.
Family business
Wertheimer was born to a Jewish family,[Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...]
in his department store. In 1924, Chanel made an agreement with the Wertheimer brothers, Pierre and Paul, directors since 1917 of the eminent perfume and cosmetics house Bourjois
Bourjois is a French cosmetics company owned by the American group Coty, Inc., Coty Inc. Bourjois creates Make up, make-up, fragrance and skincare products, which are sold in approximately 26,000 points of sales in more than 80 countries worldwid ...
. They created a corporate entity, ''Parfums Chanel'', and the Wertheimers agreed to provide full financing for the production, marketing, and distribution of Chanel No. 5. The Wertheimers would receive seventy percent of the profits, and Théophile Bader twenty percent. For ten percent of the stock, Chanel licensed her name to ''Parfums Chanel'' and withdrew from involvement in business operations. Later, unhappy with the arrangement, Chanel worked for more than twenty years to gain full control of ''Parfums Chanel''. She said that Pierre Wertheimer was "the bandit who screwed me".
One of Chanel's longest enduring associations was with Misia Sert
Misia Sert (born Maria Zofia Olga Zenajda Godebska; 30 March 1872 – 15 October 1950) was a pianist of Poles, Polish descent who hosted an artistic Salon (gathering), salon in Paris. She was a patron and friend of numerous artists, for whom she re ...
, a member of the bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
elite in Paris and wife of Spanish painter José-Maria Sert. It is said that theirs was an immediate bond of kindred souls, and Misia was attracted to Chanel by "her genius, lethal wit, sarcasm and maniacal destructiveness, which intrigued and appalled everyone". Both women were convent-schooled, and maintained a friendship of shared interests and confidences. They also shared drug use. By 1935, Chanel had become a habitual drug user, injecting herself with morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a analgesic, pain medication, and is also commonly used recreational drug, recreationally, or to make ...
on a daily basis: a habit she maintained to the end of her life. According to Chandler Burr
Chandler Burr is an American journalist, author, and museum curator.
Early life and education
Born in Chicago and raised in Washington, D.C., Burr graduated from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. He began his journalism career in 1987 as a ...
's ''The Emperor of Scent'', Luca Turin
Luca Turin (born 20 November 1953) is a biophysicist and writer with a long-standing interest in bioelectronics, the sense of smell, perfumery, and the fragrance industry.
Early life and education
Turin was born in Beirut, Lebanon on 20 November ...
related an apocryphal story in circulation that Chanel was "called Coco because she threw the most fabulous cocaine parties in Paris".
The writer Colette
Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...
, who moved in the same social circles as Chanel, provided a whimsical description of Chanel at work in her atelier, which appeared in ''Prisons et Paradis'' (1932):If every human face bears a resemblance to some animal, then Mademoiselle Chanel is a small black bull. That tuft of curly black hair, the attribute of bull-calves, falls over her brow all the way to the eyelid
An eyelid is a thin fold of skin that covers and protects an eye. The levator palpebrae superioris muscle retracts the eyelid, exposing the cornea to the outside, giving vision. This can be either voluntarily or involuntarily. The human eyel ...
s and dances with every maneuver of her head.
Associations with British aristocrats
In 1923, Vera Bate Lombardi, (born Sarah Gertrude Arkwright), reputedly the illegitimate daughter of the Marquess of Cambridge
Marquess of Cambridge was a title that was created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.
The first creation was for Prince George Augustus in 1706, when he was created Duke of Cambridge, Marquess of ...
, offered Chanel entry into the highest levels of British aristocracy. It was an elite group of associations revolving around such figures as politician Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, aristocrats such as the Duke of Westminster and royals such as Edward, Prince of Wales. In Monte Carlo in 1923, at age forty, Chanel was introduced by Lombardi to the vastly wealthy Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, known to his intimates as "Bendor". The duke lavished Chanel with extravagant jewels, costly art and a home in London's prestigious Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
district. His affair with Chanel lasted ten years.
The duke, an outspoken antisemite
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
, intensified Chanel's inherent antipathy toward Jews. He shared with her an expressed homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
. In 1946, Chanel was quoted by her friend and confidant, Paul Morand
Paul Morand (13 March 1888 – 24 July 1976) was a French author whose short stories and novellas were lauded for their style, wit and descriptive power. His most productive literary period was the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. He was mu ...
, Homosexuals? ... I have seen young women ruined by these awful queers: drugs, divorce, scandal. They will use any means to destroy a competitor and to wreak vengeance on a woman. The queers want to be women—but they are lousy women. They are charming!
Coinciding with her introduction to the duke was her introduction, again through Lombardi, to Lombardi's cousin, the Prince of Wales, Edward VIII. The prince allegedly was smitten with Chanel and pursued her in spite of her involvement with the Duke of Westminster
Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...
. Gossip had it that he visited Chanel in her apartment and requested that she call him "David", a privilege reserved only for his closest friends and family. Years later, Diana Vreeland
Diana Vreeland (September 29, 1903 – August 22, 1989) was a French-American fashion columnist and editor. She worked for the fashion magazine ''Harper's Bazaar'' and as editor-in-chief at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', later becoming a special c ...
, editor of ''Vogue'', would insist that "the passionate, focused and fiercely-independent Chanel, a virtual tour de force", and the Prince "had a great romantic moment together".
In 1927, the Duke of Westminster gave Chanel a parcel of land he had purchased in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (; oc, Ròcabruna Caup Martin or ; it, Roccabruna-Capo Martino, ; Mentonasc: ''Rocabrüna''; Roquebrune until 1921) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Southeastern Fr ...
on the French Riviera. Chanel built a villa here, which she called '' La Pausa'' ('restful pause'), hiring the architect Robert Streitz. Streitz's concept for the staircase and patio contained design elements inspired by Aubazine
Aubazines (; oc, Obasina), also spelled ''Aubazine'', is a commune in the Corrèze department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of central France.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aubazinois'' or ''Aubazinoises''.
Geography
Aubaz ...
, the orphanage where Chanel spent her youth. When asked why she did not marry the Duke of Westminster, she is supposed to have said: "There have been several Duchesses of Westminster. There is only one Chanel."
During Chanel's affair with the Duke of Westminster in the 1930s, her style began to reflect her personal emotions. Her inability to reinvent the little black dress was a sign of such reality. She began to design a "less is more" aesthetic.
Designing for film
In 1931, while in Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
Chanel became acquainted with Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
. She was introduced through a mutual friend, the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, cousin to the last tsar of Russia, Nicolas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
. Goldwyn offered Chanel a tantalizing proposition. For the sum of a million dollars (approximately US$75 million today), he would bring her to Hollywood twice a year to design costumes for his stars. Chanel accepted the offer. Accompanying her on her first trip to Hollywood was her friend, Misia Sert.
En route to California from New York, travelling in a white train carriage luxuriously outfitted for her use, Chanel was interviewed by ''Collier's
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...
'' magazine in 1932. She said that she had agreed to go to Hollywood to "see what the pictures have to offer me and what I have to offer the pictures". Chanel designed the clothing worn on screen by Gloria Swanson
Gloria May Josephine Swanson (March 27, 1899April 4, 1983) was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most f ...
, in '' Tonight or Never'' (1931), and for Ina Claire
Ina Claire (born Ina Fagan; October 15, 1893February 21, 1985) was an American stage and film actress.
Early years
Ina Fagan was born October 15, 1893 in Washington, D.C. After the death of her father, Claire began doing imitations of fellow bo ...
in '' The Greeks Had a Word for Them'' (1932). Both Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragedy, ...
and Marlene Dietrich
Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...
became private clients.
Her experience with American film making left Chanel with a dislike for Hollywood's film business and a distaste for the film world's culture, which she called "infantile". Chanel's verdict was that "Hollywood is the capital of bad taste ... and it is vulgar." Ultimately, her design aesthetic did not translate well to film. ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' speculated that Chanel left Hollywood because "they told her her dresses weren't sensational enough. She made a lady look like a lady. Hollywood wants a lady to look like two ladies." Chanel went on to design the costumes for several French films, including Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent film, silent era to the end of the 1960s. ...
's 1939 film ''La Règle du jeu
''The Rules of the Game'' (original French title: ''La règle du jeu'') is a 1939 French satirical comedy-drama film directed by Jean Renoir. The ensemble cast includes Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien Car ...
'', in which she was credited as ''La Maison Chanel''. Chanel introduced the left-wing Renoir to Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the fat ...
, aware that the shy Italian hoped to work in film. Renoir was favorably impressed by Visconti and brought him in to work on his next film project.
Significant liaisons: Reverdy and Iribe
Chanel was the mistress of some of the most influential men of her time, but she never married. She had significant relationships with the poet Pierre Reverdy
Pierre Reverdy (; 13 September 1889 – 17 June 1960) was a French poet whose works were inspired by and subsequently proceeded to influence the provocative art movements of the day, Surrealism, Dadaism and Cubism. The loneliness and spiritual a ...
and the illustrator and designer Paul Iribe
Paul Iribe (8 June 1883 – 21 September 1935) was a French illustrator and designer in the decorative arts. He worked in Hollywood during the 1920s and was Coco Chanel's lover from 1931 to his death.
Early life and career
Joseph Paul Iribe was b ...
. After her romance with Reverdy ended in 1926, they maintained a friendship that lasted some forty years. It is postulated that the legendary maxims attributed to Chanel and published in periodicals were crafted under the mentorship of Reverdy—a collaborative effort.
A review of her correspondence reveals a complete contradiction between the clumsiness of Chanel the letter writer and the talent of Chanel as a composer of maxims ... After correcting the handful of aphorisms that Chanel wrote about her ''métier'', Reverdy added to this collection of "Chanelisms" a series of thoughts of a more general nature, some touching on life and taste, others on allure and love.
Her involvement with Iribe was a deep one until his sudden death in 1935. Iribe and Chanel shared the same reactionary politics, Chanel financing Iribe's monthly, ultra-nationalist and anti-republican newsletter, ''Le Témoin'', which encouraged a fear of foreigners and preached antisemitism. In 1936, one year after ''Le Témoin'' ceased publication, Chanel veered to the opposite end of the ideological continuum by financing Pierre Lestringuez's radical left-wing magazine '' Futur''.
Rivalry with Schiaparelli
The Chanel couture was a lucrative business enterprise, employing 4,000 people by 1935. As the 1930s progressed, Chanel's place on the throne of haute couture
''Haute couture'' (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design that is constructed by hand from start-to-finish. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Paris became th ...
was threatened. The boyish look and the short skirts of the 1920s flapper seemed to disappear overnight. Chanel's designs for film stars in Hollywood were not successful and had not enhanced her reputation as expected. More significantly, Chanel's star had been eclipsed by her premier rival, the designer Elsa Schiaparelli
Elsa Schiaparelli ( , also , ; 10 September 1890 – 13 November 1973) was a fashion designer from an Italian aristocratic background.
She created the house of Schiaparelli in Paris in 1927, which she managed from the 1930s to the 1950s. ...
. Schiaparelli's innovative designs, replete with playful references to surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
, were garnering critical acclaim and generating enthusiasm in the fashion world. Feeling she was losing her avant-garde edge, Chanel collaborated with Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...
on his theatre piece ''Oedipe Rex''. The costumes she designed were mocked and critically lambasted: "Wrapped in bandages the actors looked like ambulant mummies or victims of some terrible accident." She was also involved in the costuming of ''Baccanale'', a Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo production. The designs were made by Salvador Dalí. However, due to Britain's declaration of war on 3 September 1939, the ballet was forced to leave London. They left the costumes in Europe and were re-made, according to Dali's initial designs, by Karinska.
World War II
In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Chanel closed her shops, maintaining her apartment situated above the couture house at 31 Rue de Cambon. She said that it was not a time for fashion;[ as a result of her action, 4,000 female employees lost their jobs.] Her biographer Hal Vaughan
Hal Weston Vaughan (1928–October 17, 2013) was an American author and journalist based in Paris, France. He held several posts as a US Foreign Service officer before becoming a journalist on assignments in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast ...
suggests that Chanel used the outbreak of war as an opportunity to retaliate against those workers who had struck for higher wages and shorter work hours in the French general labor strike of 1936. In closing her couture house, Chanel made a definitive statement of her political views. Her dislike of Jews, reportedly sharpened by her association with society elites, had solidified her beliefs. She shared with many of her circle a conviction that Jews were a threat to Europe because of the Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
government in the Soviet Union.
During the German occupation, Chanel resided at the Hotel Ritz. It was noteworthy as the preferred place of residence for upper-echelon German military staff. During this time, she had a romantic liaison with Baron
Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
Hans Günther von Dincklage, a German aristocrat and member of Dincklage noble family. He served as diplomat in Paris and was a former Prussian Army
The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power.
The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...
officer and attorney general who had been an operative in military intelligence since 1920, who eased her arrangements at the Ritz.
Battle for control of ''Parfums Chanel''
''Sleeping with the Enemy, Coco Chanel and the Secret War'' written by Hal Vaughan further solidifies the consistencies of the French intelligence documents released by describing Chanel as a "vicious antisemite" who praised Hitler.
World War II, specifically the Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain the full monetary fortune generated by ''Parfums Chanel'' and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of ''Parfums Chanel'', the Wertheimers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an "Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
" to petition German officials to legalize her claim to sole ownership.
She wrote: I have an indisputable right of priority ... the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business ... are disproportionate ... ndyou can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years.
Chanel was not aware that the Wertheimers, anticipating the forthcoming Nazi mandates against Jews had, in May 1940, legally turned control of ''Parfums Chanel'' over to Félix Amiot
Félix Amiot (October 17, 1894 – December 21, 1974) was a French industrialist and aircraft constructor based in Colombes, France. Some of the aircraft models he designed served in the French Air Force during the Second World War. His second i ...
, a Christian French businessman and industrialist. At war's end, Amiot returned "Parfums Chanel" to the hands of the Wertheimers.
During the period directly following the end of World War II, the business world watched with interest and some apprehension the ongoing legal wrestle for control of ''Parfums Chanel''. Interested parties in the proceedings were cognizant that Chanel's Nazi affiliations during wartime, if made public knowledge, would seriously threaten the reputation and status of the Chanel brand. ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine summarized the dilemma faced by the Wertheimers: t is Pierre Wertheimer's worryhow "a legal fight might illuminate Chanel's wartime activities and wreck her image—and his business."
Chanel hired René de Chambrun
René Aldebert Pineton de Chambrun (23 August 1906 – 19 May 2002) was a French-American aristocrat, lawyer, businessman and author. He practised law at the Court of Appeals of Paris and the New York State Bar Association. He was the author of s ...
, Vichy France Prime Minister Pierre Laval
Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. During the Third Republic, he served as Prime Minister of France from 27 January 1931 to 20 February 1932 and 7 June 1935 to 24 January 1936. He again occu ...
's son-in-law, as her lawyer to sue Wertheimer. Ultimately, the Wertheimers and Chanel came to a mutual accommodation, renegotiating the original 1924 contract. On 17 May 1947, Chanel received wartime profits from the sale of Chanel No. 5, an amount equivalent to some million in 2022 valuation. Her future share would be two percent of all Chanel No. 5 sales worldwide (projected to gross her $34 million a year as of 2022), making her one of the richest women in the world at the time the contract was renegotiated. In addition, Pierre Wertheimer agreed to an unusual stipulation proposed by Chanel herself: Wertheimer agreed to pay all of Chanel's living expenses—from the trivial to the large—for the rest of her life.
Activity as Nazi agent
Declassified archival documents unearthed by Vaughan reveal that the French Préfecture de Police had a document on Chanel in which she was described as "Couturier and perfumer. Pseudonym: Westminster. Agent reference: F 7124. Signalled as suspect in the file" (''Pseudonyme: Westminster. Indicatif d'agent: F 7124. Signalée comme suspecte au fichier''). For Vaughan, this was a piece of revelatory information linking Chanel to German intelligence operations. Anti-Nazi activist Serge Klarsfeld
Serge Klarsfeld (born 17 September 1935) is a Romanian-born French activist and Nazi hunter known for documenting the Holocaust in order to establish the record and to enable the prosecution of war criminals. Since the 1960s, he has made notab ...
declared, "Just because Chanel had a spy number doesn't necessarily mean she was personally involved. Some informers had numbers without being aware of it." ("''Ce n'est pas parce que Coco Chanel avait un numéro d'espion qu'elle était nécessairement impliquée personnellement. Certains indicateurs avaient des numéros sans le savoir''").
Vaughan establishes that Chanel committed herself to the German cause as early as 1941 and worked for General Walter Schellenberg
Walter Friedrich Schellenberg (16 January 1910 – 31 March 1952) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He rose through the ranks of the SS, becoming one of the highest ranking men in the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) and eventually ass ...
, chief of the German intelligence agency ''Sicherheitsdienst
' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
'' (Security Service; SD) and the military intelligence spy network ''Abwehr
The ''Abwehr'' (German for ''resistance'' or ''defence'', but the word usually means ''counterintelligence'' in a military context; ) was the German military-intelligence service for the ''Reichswehr'' and the ''Wehrmacht'' from 1920 to 1944. A ...
'' (Counterintelligence) at the Reich Security Main Office
The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...
(''Reichssicherheitshauptamt''; RSHA) in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. At the end of the war, Schellenberg was tried by the Nuremberg Military Tribunal
The subsequent Nuremberg trials were a series of 12 military tribunals for war crimes against members of the leadership of Nazi Germany between December 1946 and April 1949. They followed the first and best-known Nuremberg trial before the Int ...
, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment for war crimes. He was released in 1951 owing to incurable liver disease and took refuge in Italy. Chanel paid for Schellenberg's medical care and living expenses, financially supported his wife and family and paid for Schellenberg's funeral upon his death in 1952.
Suspicions of Coco Chanel's involvement first began when German tanks entered Paris and began the Nazi occupation. Chanel immediately sought refuge in the deluxe Hotel Ritz, which was also used as the headquarters of the German military. It was at the Hotel Ritz where she fell in love with Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, working in the German embassy close to the Gestapo. When the Nazi occupation of France began, Chanel decided to close her store, claiming a patriotic motivation behind such decision. However, when she moved into the same Hotel Ritz that was housing the German military, her motivations became clear to many. While many women in France were punished for " horizontal collaboration" with German officers, Chanel faced no such action. At the time of the French liberation in 1944, Chanel left a note in her store window explaining Chanel No. 5 to be free to all GIs. During this time, she fled to Switzerland to avoid criminal charges for her collaborations as a Nazi spy. After the liberation, she was known to have been interviewed in Paris by Malcolm Muggeridge
Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party (UK), Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romfo ...
, who at the time was an officer in British military intelligence, about her relationship with the Nazis during the occupation of France.
Operation Modellhut
In late 2014, French intelligence agencies
This is a list of current and former French intelligence agencies.
Currently active
*DGSE: Directorate-General for External Security – ''Direction générale de la sécurité extérieure''. It is the military foreign intelligence agency, whic ...
declassified and released documents confirming Coco Chanel's role with Germany in World War II. Working as a spy, Chanel was directly involved in a plan for the Third Reich to take control of Madrid. Such documents identify Chanel as an agent in the German military intelligence, the Abwehr. Chanel visited Madrid in 1943 to convince the British ambassador to Spain, Sir Samuel Hoare, a friend of Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, about a possible German surrender once the war was leaning towards an Allied victory. One of the most prominent missions she was involved in was Operation Modellhut ("Operation Model Hat"). Her duty was to act as a messenger from Hitler's Foreign Intelligence to Churchill, to prove that some of the Third Reich attempted peace with the Allies.
In 1943, Chanel traveled to the RSHA in Berlin—the "lion's den"—with her liaison and "old friend", the German Embassy in Paris press attaché Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage, a former Prussian Army officer and attorney general, who was also known as "Sparrow" among his friends and colleagues.[ Dincklage was also a collaborator for the German SD; his superiors being Walter Schellenberg and Alexander Waag in Berlin.][ Chanel and Dincklage were to report to Schellenberg at the RSHA, with a plan that Chanel had proposed to Dincklage: she, Coco Chanel, was to meet Churchill and persuade him to negotiate with the Germans.][ In late 1943 or early 1944, Chanel and her SS superior, Schellenberg, who had a weakness for unconventional schemes,][ devised a plan to get Britain to consider a separate peace to be negotiated by the SS. When interrogated by British intelligence at the war's end, Schellenberg maintained that Chanel was "a person who knew Churchill sufficiently to undertake political negotiations with him".] For this mission, code-named ''Operation Modellhut'', they also recruited Vera Bate Lombardi. Count Joseph von Ledebur-Wicheln, a Nazi agent who defected to the British Secret Service in 1944, recalled a meeting he had with Dincklage in early 1943, in which the baron had suggested including Lombardi as a courier. Dincklage purportedly said, The ''Abwehr'' had first to bring to France a young Italian woman ombardiCoco Chanel was attached to because of her lesbian vices
Unaware of the machinations of Schellenberg and Chanel, Lombardi was led to believe that the forthcoming journey to Spain would be a business trip exploring the potential for establishing Chanel couture in Madrid. Lombardi acted as an intermediary, delivering a letter written by Chanel to Churchill, to be forwarded to him via the British Embassy in Madrid. Schellenberg's SS liaison officer, Captain Walter Kutschmann
Walter Kutschmann (24 July 1914 – 30 August 1986) was a German SS-'' Untersturmführer'' and Gestapo officer, a member of an '' Einsatzkommando'', based first in Lwów, Poland (today Lviv, Ukraine), and later in Drohobycz. He was responsible ...
, acted as bagman, "told to deliver a large sum of money to Chanel in Madrid". Ultimately, the mission was a failure for the Germans: British intelligence files reveal that the plan collapsed after Lombardi, on arrival in Madrid, proceeded to denounce Chanel and others to the British Embassy as Nazi spies.
Protection from prosecution
In September 1944, Chanel was interrogated by the Free French Purge Committee, the ''épuration''. The committee had no documented evidence of her collaborative activities and was obliged to release her. According to Chanel's grand-niece, Gabrielle Palasse Labrunie, when Chanel returned home she said, "Churchill had me freed".
The extent of Churchill's intervention for Chanel after the war became a subject of gossip and speculation. Some historians claimed that people worried that, if Chanel were forced to testify about her own activities at trial, she would expose the pro-Nazi sympathies and activities of certain top-level British officials, members of the society elite and the royal family. Vaughan writes that some claim that Churchill instructed Duff Cooper
Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian.
First elected to Parliament in 192 ...
, British ambassador to the French provisional government, to protect Chanel.
Requested to appear in Paris before investigators in 1949, Chanel left her retreat in Switzerland to confront testimony given against her at the war crime trial of Baron Louis de Vaufreland, a French traitor and highly placed German intelligence agent. Chanel denied all the accusations. She offered the presiding judge, Leclercq, a character reference: "I could arrange for a declaration to come from Mr. Duff Cooper."
Chanel's friend and biographer Marcel Haedrich said of her wartime interaction with the Nazi regime: If one took seriously the few disclosures that Mademoiselle Chanel allowed herself to make about those black years of the occupation, one's teeth would be set on edge.
Churchill and Chanel's friendship marks its origin in the 1920s, with the eruption of Chanel's scandalous beginning when falling in love with the Duke of Westminster. Churchill's intervention at the end of the war prevented Chanel's punishment for spy collaborations, and ultimately salvaged her legacy.
Controversy
When Vaughan's book was published in August 2011, his disclosure of the contents of recently declassified military intelligence documents generated considerable controversy about Chanel's activities. Maison de Chanel issued a statement, portions of which were published by several media outlets. Chanel corporate "refuted the claim" (of espionage), while acknowledging that company officials had read only media excerpts of the book.
The Chanel Group stated, What is certain is that she had a relationship with a German aristocrat during the War. Clearly it wasn't the best period to have a love story with a German, even if Baron von Dincklage was English by his mother and she (Chanel) knew him before the War.
In an interview given to the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
, author Vaughan discussed the unexpected turn of his research, I was looking for something else and I come across this document saying 'Chanel is a Nazi agent' ... Then I really started hunting through all of the archives, in the United States, in London,in Berlin, and in Rome and I came across not one, but 20, 30, 40 absolutely solid archival materials on Chanel and her lover, Hans Günther von Dincklage, who was a professional Abwehr spy.
Vaughan also addressed the discomfort many felt with the revelations provided in his book: A lot of people in this world don't want the iconic figure of Gabrielle Coco Chanel, one of France's great cultural idols, destroyed. This is definitely something that a lot of people would have preferred to put aside, to forget, to just go on selling Chanel scarves and jewellery.
Post-war life and career
In 1945, Chanel moved to Switzerland, where she lived for several years, part of the time with Dincklage. In 1953 she sold her villa '' La Pausa'' on the French Riviera to the publisher and translator Emery Reves
Emery Reves ( hu, Révész Imre) (6 September 1904 – 5 September 1981) was a writer, publisher, and successful press and literary agent most notably for Winston Churchill and other prominent European statesmen who were predominantly anti-Fascist ...
. Five rooms from La Pausa have been replicated at the Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Art ...
, to house the Reves' art collection as well as pieces of furniture belonging to Chanel.
Unlike the pre-war era, when women reigned as the premier couturiers, Christian Dior
Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...
achieved success in 1947 with his " New Look", and a cadre of male designers achieved recognition: Dior, Cristóbal Balenciaga
, birth_name = Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Getaria, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Xàbia, Spain
, resting_place = Getaria Cemetery
, education =
, label_name = Balenciaga
, ...
, Robert Piguet
Robert Piguet (1898 – 1953) was a Swiss-born, Paris-based fashion designer who is mainly remembered for training Christian Dior and Hubert de Givenchy. The Piguet fashion house ran from 1933 to 1951; since then, the brand Robert Piguet has been ...
, and Jacques Fath
Jacques Fath (6 September 1912 in Maisons-Laffitte, France – 13 November 1954 in Paris, France) was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the three dominant influences on postwar haute couture, the others being Christian Dior and ...
. Chanel was convinced that women would ultimately rebel against the aesthetic favoured by the male couturiers, what she called "illogical" design: the "waist cinchers, padded bras, heavy skirts, and stiffened jackets".
At more than 70 years old, after having her couture house closed for 15 years, she felt the time was right for her to re-enter the fashion world. The revival of her couture house in 1954 was fully financed by Chanel's opponent in the perfume battle, Pierre Wertheimer. When Chanel came out with her comeback collection in 1954, the French press were cautious due to her collaboration during the war and the controversy of the collection. However, the American and British press saw it as a "breakthrough", bringing together fashion and youth in a new way. Bettina Ballard, the influential editor of the US ''Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'', remained loyal to Chanel, and featured the model Marie-Hélène Arnaud
Marie-Hélène Françoise Arnaud (24 September 1934 – 6 October 1986) was a French model and actress. Working as a house model for the French fashion house Chanel, she was the "face of Chanel" in the 1950s; she also developed a second career a ...
—the "face of Chanel" in the 1950s—in the March 1954 issue,[ photographed by Henry Clarke, wearing three outfits: a red dress with a V-neck paired with ropes of pearls; a tiered seersucker evening gown; and a navy jersey mid-calf suit.][ Arnaud wore this outfit, "with its slightly padded, square shouldered cardigan jacket, two patch pockets and sleeves that unbuttoned back to reveal crisp white cuffs", above "a white muslin blouse with a perky collar and bow ]hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
stayed perfectly in place with small tabs that buttoned onto the waistline of an easy A-line skirt." Ballard had bought the suit herself, which gave "an overwhelming impression of insouciant, youthful elegance",[Chaney, 2012, p. 406.] and orders for the clothing that Arnaud had modelled soon poured in from the US.[
]
Last years
According to Edmonde Charles-Roux, Chanel had become tyrannical and extremely lonely late in life. In her last years she was sometimes accompanied by Jacques Chazot
Jacques Chazot, (b. 25 September 1928 in Locmiquélic (Morbihan), d. 12 July 1993 in Monthyon (Seine-et-Marne) was a French dancer and socialite.
Biography
He joined Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Paris in 1947 as a dancer. In 1956, he join ...
and her confidante Lilou Marquand. A faithful friend was also the Brazilian Aimée de Heeren
Aimée de Heeren, born Aimée Soto-Maior de Sá or Aimée de Sotomayor (3 August 1903 – 13 September 2006) was a Brazilian socialite and secret service agent keeping Getulio Vargas away from a WW2 alliance with Nazi Germany. She was named to th ...
, who lived in Paris four months a year at the nearby Hôtel Meurice
Le Meurice () is a Brunei-owned five-star luxury hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli. From the Rue de Rivoli, it stretches to the Rue ...
. The former rivals shared happy memories of times with the Duke of Westminster
Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...
. They frequently strolled together through central Paris.
Death
As 1971 began, Chanel was 87 years old, tired, and ailing. She carried out her usual routine of preparing the spring catalogue. She had gone for a long drive on the afternoon of Saturday, 9 January. Soon after, feeling ill, she went to bed early. She announced her final words to her maid which were: "You see, this is how you die."
She died on Sunday, 10 January 1971, at the Hotel Ritz, where she had resided for more than 30 years.
Her funeral was held at the Église de la Madeleine
, other name =
, native_name =
, native_name_lang = French
, image = Madeleine Paris.jpg
, landscape =
, imagesize =
, caption =
, imagelink ...
; her fashion models occupied the first seats during the ceremony and her coffin was covered with white flowers—camellias, gardenias, orchids, azaleas and a few red roses. Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...
, Serge Lifar
Serge Lifar ( ua, Сергій Михайлович Лифар, ''Serhіy Mуkhailovуch Lуfar'') ( 15 December 1986) was a Ukrainian ballet dancer and choreographer, famous as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century. No ...
, Jacques Chazot
Jacques Chazot, (b. 25 September 1928 in Locmiquélic (Morbihan), d. 12 July 1993 in Monthyon (Seine-et-Marne) was a French dancer and socialite.
Biography
He joined Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Paris in 1947 as a dancer. In 1956, he join ...
, Yves Saint Laurent and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
Marie-Hélène Naila Stephanie Josina de Rothschild (; November 17, 1927 – March 1, 1996) was a French socialite who became a doyenne of Parisian high-society and was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France.
Early life ...
attended her funeral in the Church of the Madeleine.
Her grave is in the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery, Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
, Switzerland.
Most of her estate was inherited by her nephew André Palasse, who lived in Switzerland, and his two daughters, who lived in Paris.
Although Chanel was viewed as a prominent figure of luxury fashion during her life, Chanel's influence has been examined further after her death in 1971. When Chanel died, the first lady of France, Mme Pompidou, organized a hero's tribute. Soon, damaging documents from French intelligence agencies were released that outlined Chanel's wartime involvements, quickly ending her monumental funeral plans.
Legacy as designer
As early as 1915, ''Harper's Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' raved over Chanel's designs: "The woman who hasn't at least one Chanel is hopelessly out of fashion ... This season the name Chanel is on the lips of every buyer." Chanel's ascendancy was the official deathblow to the corseted female silhouette. The frills, fuss, and constraints endured by earlier generations of women were now passé; under her influence—gone were the "''aigrettes'', long hair, hobble skirts". Her design aesthetic redefined the fashionable woman in the post World War I era. The Chanel trademark look was of youthful ease, liberated physicality, and unencumbered sportive confidence.
The horse culture and penchant for hunting so passionately pursued by the elites, especially the British, fired Chanel's imagination. Her own enthusiastic indulgence in the sporting life led to clothing designs informed by those activities. From her excursions on water with the yachting world, she appropriated the clothing associated with nautical pursuits: the horizontal striped shirt, bell-bottom pants, crewneck sweaters, and ''espadrille'' shoes—all traditionally worn by sailors and fishermen.
Jersey fabric
Chanel's initial triumph was her innovative use of jersey, a machine knit material manufactured for her by the firm Rodier. Traditionally relegated to the manufacture of undergarments and sportswear (tennis, golf, and beach attire), jersey was considered too "ordinary" to be used in couture, and was disliked by designers because the knit structure made it difficult to handle compared to woven fabrics. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "With her financial situation precarious in the early years of her design career, Chanel purchased jersey primarily for its low cost. The qualities of the fabric, however, ensured that the designer would continue to use it long after her business became profitable." Chanel's early wool jersey travelling suit consisted of a cardigan jacket and pleated skirt, paired with a low-belted pullover top. This ensemble, worn with low-heeled shoes, became the casual look in expensive women's wear.
Chanel's introduction of jersey to high-fashion worked well for two reasons: First, the war had caused a shortage of more traditional couture materials, and second, women began desiring simpler and more practical clothes. Her fluid jersey suits and dresses were created with these notions in mind and allowed for free and easy movement. This was greatly appreciated at the time because women were working for the war effort as nurses, civil servants, and in factories. Their jobs involved physical activity and they had to ride trains, buses, and bicycles to get to work.[ For such circumstances, they desired outfits that did not give way easily and could be put on without the help of servants.]
Slavic influence
Designers such as Paul Poiret and Fortuny introduced ethnic references into haute couture in the 1900s and early 1910s. Chanel continued this trend with Slav
Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
-inspired designs in the early 1920s. The beading and embroidery on her garments at this time was exclusively executed by Kitmir, an embroidery house founded by an exiled Russian aristocrat, the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, who was the sister of Chanel's erstwhile lover, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich.[ Kitmir's fusion of oriental stitching with stylised folk motifs was highlighted in Chanel's early collections.][ One 1922 evening dress came with a matching embroidered ']babushka
Babushka or baboushka or babooshka (from rus, ба́бушка, p=ˈbabʊʂkə, meaning "grandmother" or "elderly woman") may refer to:
Arts and media
* "Babooshka" (song), a 1980 song by Kate Bush
* "Babushka Boi" (song), a 2019 song by A$A ...
' headscarf.[The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, New Series, Vol. 63, No. 2 (Fall, 2005) p.39. (for a PDF file showing relevant page, see her]
. An image of dress with headscarf in situ may be seen on the Metropolitan database her
/ref> In addition to the headscarf, Chanel clothing from this period featured square-neck, long belted blouses alluding to Russian ''muzhiks'' (peasant) attire known as the ''roubachka''. Evening designs were often embroidered with sparkling crystal and Jet (lignite), black jet embroidery.
Chanel suit
First introduced in 1923, the Chanel tweed suit was designed for comfort and practicality. It consisted of a jacket and skirt in supple and light wool or mohair tweed, and a blouse and jacket lining in jersey or silk. Chanel did not stiffen the material or use shoulder pads, as was common in contemporary fashion. She cut the jackets on the straight grain, without adding bust darts. This allowed for quick and easy movement. She designed the neckline to leave the neck comfortably free and added functional pockets. For a higher level of comfort, the skirt had a grosgrain
Grosgrain ( , also sometimes ) is a type of fabric or ribbon defined by the fact that its weft is heavier than its warp, creating prominent transverse ribs. Grosgrain is a plain weave corded fabric, with heavier cords than poplin but lighter th ...
stay around the waist, instead of a belt. More importantly, meticulous attention was placed on detail during fittings. Measurements were taken of a customer in a standing position with arms folded at shoulder height. Chanel conducted tests with models, having them walk around, step up to a platform as if climbing stairs of an imaginary bus, and bend as if getting into a low-slung sports car. Chanel wanted to make sure women could do all of these things while wearing her suit, without accidentally exposing parts of their body they wanted covered. Each client would have repeated adjustments until their suit was comfortable enough for them to perform daily activities with comfort and ease.
Camellia
The camellia
''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controversy ...
had an established association used in Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...
' literary work, ''La Dame aux Camélias'' (The Lady of the Camellias
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article
An article is any member ...
). Its heroine and her story had resonated for Chanel since her youth. The flower was associated with the courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...
, who would wear a camellia to advertise her availability. The camellia came to be identified with The House of Chanel; the designer first used it in 1933 as a decorative element on a white-trimmed black suit.
Little black dress
After the jersey suit, the concept of the little black dress
The little black dress (LBD) is a black evening or cocktail dress, cut simply and often quite short. Fashion historians ascribe the origins of the little black dress to the 1920s designs of Coco Chanel. It is intended to be long-lasting, versat ...
is often cited as a Chanel contribution to the fashion lexicon, a style still worn to this day. In 1912–1913, the actress Suzanne Orlandi was one of the first women to wear a Chanel little black dress, in velvet with a white collar. In 1920, Chanel herself vowed that, while observing an audience at the opera, she would dress all women in black.[
In 1926, the American edition of '']Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' published an image of a Chanel little black dress with long sleeves, dubbing it the ''garçonne'' ('little boy' look). ''Vogue'' predicted that such a simple yet chic design would become a virtual uniform for women of taste, famously comparing its basic lines to the ubiquitous and no less widely accessible Ford automobile. The spare look generated widespread criticism from male journalists, who complained: "no more bosom, no more stomach, no more rump ... Feminine fashion of this moment in the 20th century will be baptized lop off everything." The popularity of the little black dress can be attributed in part to the timing of its introduction. The 1930s was the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
era, when women needed affordable fashion. Chanel boasted that she had enabled the non-wealthy to "walk around like millionaires". Chanel started making little black dresses in wool or chenille for the day and in satin
A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...
, crêpe
A crêpe or crepe ( or , , Quebec French: ) is a very thin type of pancake. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served with a wide variety of fillings such as cheese, ...
or velvet
Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
for the evening.
Chanel proclaimed "I imposed black; it's still going strong today, for black wipes out everything else around."[
]
Jewellery
Chanel introduced a line of jewellery that was a conceptual innovation, as her designs and materials incorporated both costume jewellery and fine gem stones. This was revolutionary in an era when jewellery was strictly categorized into either fine or costume jewellery. Her inspirations were global, often inspired by design traditions of the Orient and Egypt. Wealthy clients who did not wish to display their costly jewellery in public could wear Chanel creations to impress others.
In 1933, designer Paul Iribe
Paul Iribe (8 June 1883 – 21 September 1935) was a French illustrator and designer in the decorative arts. He worked in Hollywood during the 1920s and was Coco Chanel's lover from 1931 to his death.
Early life and career
Joseph Paul Iribe was b ...
collaborated with Chanel in the creation of extravagant jewellery pieces commissioned by the International Guild of Diamond Merchants. The collection, executed exclusively in diamonds and platinum, was exhibited for public viewing and drew a large audience; some 3,000 attendees were recorded in a one-month period.
As an antidote for ''vrais bijoux en toc'', the obsession with costly, fine jewels, Chanel turned costume jewellery into a coveted accessory—especially when worn in grand displays, as she did. Originally inspired by the opulent jewels and pearls given to her by aristocratic lovers, Chanel raided her own jewel vault and partnered with Duke Fulco di Verdura to launch a House of Chanel jewellery line. A white enamelled cuff featuring a jewelled Maltese cross
The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically.
It is a heraldic cross variant which developed f ...
was Chanel's personal favourite; it has become an icon of the Verdura–Chanel collaboration. The fashionable and wealthy loved the creations and made the line wildly successful. Chanel said, "It's disgusting to walk around with millions around the neck because one happens to be rich. I only like fake jewellery ... because it's provocative."
The Chanel bag
In 1929, Chanel introduced a handbag inspired by soldiers' bags. Its thin shoulder strap allowed the user to keep her hands free. Following her comeback, Chanel updated the design in February 1955, creating what would become the " 2.55" (named for the date of its creation). Whilst details of the classic bag have been reworked, such as the 1980s update by Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...
when the clasp and lock were redesigned to incorporate the Chanel logo and leather was interlaced through the shoulder chain, the bag has retained its original basic form.[ In 2005, the Chanel firm released an exact replica of the original 1955 bag to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its creation.][
The bag's design was informed by Chanel's convent days and her love of the sporting world. The chain used for the strap echoed the '' chatelaines'' worn by the caretakers of the orphanage where Chanel grew up, whilst the burgundy lining referenced the convent uniforms.] The quilted outside was influenced by the jackets worn by jockeys,[ whilst at the same time enhancing the bag's shape and volume.][
]
Suntans
In an outdoor environment of turf and sea, Chanel took in the sun, making suntans not only acceptable, but a symbol denoting a life of privilege and leisure. Historically, identifiable exposure to the sun had been the mark of labourers doomed to a life of unremitting, unsheltered toil. "A milky skin seemed a sure sign of aristocracy." By the mid-1920s, women could be seen lounging on the beach without a hat to shield them from the sun's rays. The Chanel influence made sun bathing fashionable.
Depictions in popular culture
Theatre
* The Broadway production '' Coco'', with music by André Previn
André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...
, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...
, opened 18 December 1969 and closed 3 October 1970. It is set in 1953–1954 at the time that Chanel was reestablishing her couture house. Chanel was played by Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
for the first eight months, and by Danielle Darrieux
Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (; 1 May 1917 – 17 October 2017) was a French actress of stage, television and film, as well as a singer and dancer.
Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's g ...
for the rest of its run.
Film
* The first film about Chanel was ''Chanel Solitaire
''Chanel Solitaire'' is a 1981 British-French-American historical drama film directed by George Kaczender and starring Marie-France Pisier, Timothy Dalton, Rutger Hauer, Brigitte Fossey, Karen Black, Lambert Wilson. The film's subject was Coco C ...
'' (1981), directed by George Kaczender
George Kaczender (19 April 1933 – 24 August 2016) was a Hungarian-born Canadian film director. He directed 26 films between 1963 and 2001.
Biography
Kaczender left Hungary in 1956 as a political refugee after studying film and working as ...
and starring Marie-France Pisier
Marie-France Pisier (10 May 194424 April 2011) was a French actress, screenwriter, and director. She appeared in numerous films of the French New Wave and twice earned the national César Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Early life
Pisier was ...
, Timothy Dalton
Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. Beginning his career on stage, he made his film debut as Philip II of France in the 1968 historical drama ''The Lion in Winter''. He gained international prominence as ...
, and Rutger Hauer
Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century.
Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...
.
* ''Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...
'' (2008) was a television movie starring Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American actress, author, and former dancer. Known for her portrayals of quirky, strong-willed and eccentric women, MacLaine has received numerous accolades over her seven-dec ...
as the 70-year-old Chanel. Directed by Christian Duguay, the film also starred Barbora Bobuľová
Barbora Bobuľová (born 29 April 1974) is an Italian actress. Since 1995, she has lived and worked mainly in Italy.
Life and work
Born in Martin, Bobuľová trained at the National Drama Academy in Bratislava before moving to Italy in 1995. S ...
as the young Chanel and Olivier Sitruk
Olivier Sitruk (born December 25, 1970 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France), is a French comedian, actor, and producer, who has appeared in 44 films and television shows.
After considering a career as an archaeologist, Sitruk changed his mind and di ...
as Boy Capel.
* '' Coco avant Chanel'' (''Coco Before Chanel'') (2009) was a French-language biographical film directed by Anne Fontaine, starring Audrey Tautou
Audrey Justine Tautou (; born 9 August 1976) is a French actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 18 on television and her feature film debut in ''Venus Beauty Institute'' (1999), for which she received critical acclaim and won the Césa ...
as the young Chanel, with Benoît Poelvoorde
Benoît Poelvoorde (, ; born 22 September 1964) is a Belgian actor and comedian.
Early life
His mother was a grocer and his father a driver, who died when Poelvoorde was still a minor. He attended the Jesuit Boarding School of Godinne before ...
as Étienne Balsan and Alessandro Nivola
Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972) is an American actor. He has been nominated for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award and has won a Screen Actors Guild Award, a British Independent Film Award (BIFA), and the Best Actor Award ...
as Boy Capel
* ''Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
''Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky'' is a 2009 French romantic drama film directed by Jan Kounen. It was chosen as the Closing Film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and was shown on 24 May 2009.
''Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky'' is based on the 2 ...
'' (2009) was a French-language film directed by Jan Kounen
Jan Kounen (born Jan Coenen; 2 May 1964) is a Netherlands-born French film director and producer.
In France, he is mostly known for his films ''Dobermann'' (1997), '' Blueberry, l'experience secrete'' (2004) and ''99 francs'' (2007). Outside Fr ...
. Anna Mouglalis
Anna Mouglalis ( el, Άννα Μουγλάλη; born 26 April 1978) is a French actress and model. She is known for being a house ambassador for Chanel since 2002, and for portraying the fashion designer Coco Chanel in the 2009 film '' Coco Chan ...
played Chanel, and Mads Mikkelsen
Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen, (; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. Originally a gymnast and dancer, he rose to fame in Denmark as an actor for his roles such as Tonny in the first two films of the ''Pusher'' film trilogy (1996, 2004), Det ...
played Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
. The film was based on the 2002 novel '' Coco and Igor'' by Chris Greenhalgh
Chris Greenhalgh is a British novelist, screenwriter, teacher and poet.
Life
Chris Greenhalgh was born in 1963 and brought up in Manchester. After studying English Literature at university, he lived and worked for five years in Italy and Athens ...
, which concerns a purported affair between Chanel and Stravinsky. It was chosen to close the Cannes Film Festival of 2009.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
* (Reviewed in
The Montreal Review
')
*
External links
Official Site of Chanel
*
*
*
*
Interactive timeline of couture houses and couturier biographies
Victoria and Albert Museum
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanel, Coco
1883 births
1971 deaths
20th-century French businesswomen
Artists from Paris
Ballet designers
Burials in Switzerland
Chanel people
Deaths in France
French businesspeople in fashion
French collaborators with Nazi Germany
French expatriates in Switzerland
French fashion designers
French women company founders
People from Saumur
Shoe designers
French women fashion designers
Women in World War II
Age controversies