The best-selling, most abundantly illustrated biography available of
fashion icon Coco Chanel, written by her close friend and chosen
official biographer.
Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (1883-1971) is a fashion icon unlike any other,
arguably the most influential designer of the 20th century, whose
creations remain as popular today as when they were introduced a century
ago. She invented modern, chic clothing for women: she freed them from
corsets, bobbed their hair, put them in simple bathing suits, and sent
them out to get tanned in the sun. She introduced slacks, costume
jewelry, the exquisitely comfortable and elegant knit suit, the "little
black dress," and the now-ubiquitous quilted handbag. She made the first
couture perfume―No. 5―which remains the most popular scent ever created.
And she knew and collaborated with the leading creative minds of her
day: the likes of Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Cocteau, Jean Renoir,
and Visconti―as she matched their modernist innovations by liberating
women from the prison of 19th-century fashion and introducing a whole
new concept of style.
In this beautiful volume, the glorious life and world of the
incomparable Coco Chanel shines again through lively text and a
staggering collection of photographs amassed by author Edmonde
Charles-Roux--the dear friend who Chanel chose as her
biographer--shedding new light on one of the great stories of the modern
age.
"A model pictorial biography." New York Times
"This Chanel biography is as elegantly turned out as its subject." The
Washington Post
"This lavish photo tome brings depth to Chanel's sleek façade while
revealing the fascinating woman behind it." W
"Edmonde Charles-Roux (is) one of (Chanel's) best biographers." The New
Yorker
"There have been many books about Chanel, but this is the great
classic." Art of the Times
"This beautiful volume contains hundreds of photographs and lively prose
by its author, Edmonde Charles-Roux." American Salon
"Provides insight into the development of her sense of style and
underscores the timelessness of her vision." Veranda
