Chanel: Her Life, Her World, and the Woman Behind the Legend She Herself Created - Softcover

Edmonde Charles-Roux

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906694249 ISBN 13: 9781906694241

Publisher: MACLEHOSE PRESS, 2009

Synopsis

She revolutionized how women looked. She banned corsets, shortened skirts and scented the world with Chanel No.5. Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel was an icon. But how closely did her carefully moulded image match the truth? Born illegitimate and raised in an orphanage - not by the two aunts that she invented - Gabrielle Chanel fought constantly to escape the mundane. She rose from back-street milliner to become the head of a vast business empire, and socialised with Picasso, Stravinsky and Cocteau. Edmonde Charles-Roux also reveals one of Chanel’s best-kept secrets - her love affair with a prodigal German spy. Chanel’s legend did not fade with her death, and nor has the mark of sheer elegance that she left upon the world of fashion. This is the living woman behind the vibrant legend.

About this title

Review:

'This biography delves far into the past, unraveling the mysteries that Chanel herself worked to create...it’s a beautifully honest yet surprisingly unforgiving portrait of a woman often outshone by her own legend' Observer.

'A fascinating, intimate, merciless, but ultimately sympathetic portrait... Even for those with only the slightest interest in fashion this is a beautifully written, highly entertaining biography' Guardian.

'Chanel’s life was extraordinary, varied, full, perverse and like all good stories, full of dramatic reversals and successes' Margaret Drabble. --Reviews.

From the Back Cover:

She revolutionised the way women looked. She persuaded them to throw away their corsets, shorten their skirts, bob their hair, and scent their world with Chanel No. 5. Shrewd and secretive, intelligent and independent, Gabrielle `Coco' Chanel was to become an icon. But how closely did her carefully moulded image match the truth?
Born in a poorhouse, raised in an orphanage - not by the two aunts that she herself invented - she fought from a young age to escape obscurity. Developing a love of luxury and a sense of fashion as a wealthy man's mistress, she rose from back-street milliner to become the head of a vast business empire, where she socialised with Picasso, Stravinsky and Jean Cocteau. Charles-Roux also reveals one of Chanel's best kept secrets - her love affair with a wartime spy.
Chanel's legend did not fade with her death, and nor has the mark of sheer elegance that she left upon the world of fashion. This is an unmatchable portrait of the living woman behind the vibrant legend.

About this edition

• Publisher: MACLEHOSE PRESS
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1906694249
• ISBN 13: 9781906694241
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416