Book description
This edition contains a limited number of illustrations.
Justine Picardie has spent the last decade puzzling over the truth
about Coco Chanel, attempting to peel away the accretions of romance and
lies. In this full-scale biography we finally discover the history of
the incredible woman who created the way we look now.
Coco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor - she conjured up the little
black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic,
best-selling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time
- but she also invented herself, fashioning the myth of her own life
with the same dexterity as her couture.
While Chanel was supreme innovator and vendor of all things elegant and
beautiful, what lies beneath her own glossy myth is far darker. Throwing
new light on her passionate and turbulent relationships, this
beautifully constructed portrait gives a fresh and penetrating look at
how Coco Chanel made herself into her own most powerful creation.
Justine Picardie brings the mysterious Gabrielle Chanel out of hiding,
to celebrate her great achievements. She examines Chanel's enduring
afterlife, as well as her remarkable life, uncovering the consequences
of what she covered up, unpicking the seams between truth and legend,
yet keeping intact the real fabric of her past. JUSTINE PICARDIE is
the author of five books, including her critically acclaimed memoir If
The Spirit Moves You. The former features director of British Vogue, she
is currently a fashion columnist for Stella and also writes for several
other newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Telegraph, Harpers
Bazaar and Red.
She lives in London with her two sons.
