Gabrielle Coco Chanel (18831971) is a fashion icon unlike any other. She invented modern clothing for women: at the height of the Belle Ipoque, she stripped women of their corsets and feathers, bobbed their hair, put them in bathing suits, and sent them out to get tanned in the sun. She introduced slacks, costume jewelry, and the exquisitely comfortable suit. She made the first couture perfume, No. 5, which remains the most popular scent ever created. In this beautiful volume, the glorious life of the incomparable Coco Chanel shines again through hundreds of illustrations and the lively prose of Edmonde Charles-Roux, her official biographer and close friend. Chanel knew and collaborated with the likes of Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Cocteau, Jean Renoir, and Visconti, even as she matched their modernist innovations by liberating women from the prison of 19th-century fashion and introducing a whole new concept of elegance. The staggering collection of photographs amassed by the author over decades of friendship with Chanel sheds new light on one of the great stories of the modern age.

Coco Chanel was a legend who revolutionised the way women looked. She became the single most important arbiter of fashion and taste in the 20th century. Just her name was sufficient to convey prestige, quality and unmistakable style. The Duke of Westminster wooed her, Stravinsky played for her and Goldwyn enticed her to Hollywood. She knew everybody who was anybody in the world of the arts from Picasso and Cocteau to Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman. She designed frankly fake jewellery, introduced the basic 'little black dress' and perfumed the world with her No. 5. However, as this remarkable biography shows, there was a mass of contradictions behind the myth of 'Mademoiselle'. Chanel follows her story from her upbringing in provincial Auvergne through her first successes in the 1920s to her comeback in the 1950s and 1960s. Edmond Charles-Roux's book is definitive as history and immensely entertaining as gossip.

Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon is an illustrated biography of Coco’s Chanel's life from the internationally reknown illustrator and author, Megan Hess. It features key moments from Coco's amazing life and iconic items from the fashion empire that she built. Think an illustrated picture book for adults, told through Megan's stylish and feminine illustrations with a fun, whimsical and magical bent. Coco Chanel takes us on a romp through the three distinct chapters of Coco's life: from Coco’s early life and building the brand, to the empire she created, to the legacy she left behind, and how her style is still influential and iconic today. Hess’s book literally paints a picture of the woman who forever changed the way women dress.—The Australian Coco Chanel: The Illustrated World of a Fashion Icon is a beautifully presented biography of the designer—Books + Publishing National Style lovers, unite! This amazing guided tour of Chanel’s game-changing empire is made for coffee tables—Cleo Australian illustrator Megan Hess, whose work graces prestigious designers and brands including Chanel, Carrier and Tiffany and Co., creates a whimsical adventure through the world of Mademoiselle Chanel—PRIMOLife

This book is a literary museum exhibition, a curated selection of 100 iconic and signature looks of the house of Chanel, from the timeless Little Black Dress to the impeccably simple tweed suit, the apothecary-style perfume bottle, two-tone pumps, abundant strands of faux pearls and stones, and diamond-quilted leather handbag, from Mademoiselle’s revolutionary designs to Karl Lagerfeld’s unexpected and even irreverent variations on her original codes.

NOW IN PAPERBACK! A modern look at the life of a fashion icon—with practical life lessons for women of all ages Delving into the extraordinary life of renowned French fashion designer Coco Chanel, Karen Karbo has written a new kind of self-help book, exploring Chanel’s philosophy on a range of universal themes—from style to passion, from money and success to femininity and living life on your own terms.

Coco Chanel, without question probably the most famous fashion designer of all time, was named by TimeÊ magazine one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Her life was filled with trauma, romance, intrigue, and scandal, but her business acumen and groundbreaking talent (along with funding by her paramours) took her far beyond her humble beginnings. Chanel understood how to get what she wanted from life and never hesitated to pursue the grandest of visions. Her designs broke numerous barriers, and her influence on style and aesthetic forever changed the world, especially for women. WomenÕs liberation took a major step forward when Chanel made it acceptable and stylish for women to throw away their corsets and pull on pants! Moving beyond tangible style to the intangible, Chanel broke new ground when she introduced her own scent, N¡5. She was the first designer to do so. Today most fashion houses have their own fragrance line, but it was Chanel who started the trend. This was but one of many trendsÑnow considered classicsÑthat were born of ChanelÕs brilliant design mien: ropes of pearls, cardigans, jewelry cuffs, slinky jersey fabric, and more. Vive la Chanel!

Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel is an icon of fashion, and can lay claim to having invented the look of the 20th century. At the height of the Belle Epoque, she stripped women of their corsets and feathers, bobbed their hair, put them in bathing suits and sent them out to get tanned in the sun. She introduced the little black dress; trousers for women; costume jewelry; the exquisitely comfortable suit that became her trademark. Early in the Roaring Twenties, Chanel made the first ever couture perfume - No. 5 - presenting it in the famous little square-cut flagon that, inspired by Picasso and Cubism, became the arch symbol of the Art Deco style. No. 5 remains the most popular scent ever created. Chanel knew instinctively that the road to success lay in being absolutely at one with her own time. And what a time The era of Picasso, Diaghilev, Stravinsky, Cocteau, Jean Renoir, Visconti - all of whom 'Coco' knew and collaborated with, even as she matched their modernist innovations by liberating women from the prison of 19th-century fashion and creating a whole new concept of elegance. volume clearly shows, her life and accomplishment - even her chronic failure in love - constitute one of the great stories of the modern age. Her life is eminently suited to the lavish visual treatment of this handsome volume, which features more than 600 illustrations from an extraordinary collection amassed over the years by Edmonde Charles-Roux, Chanel's official biographer and close friend. An authoritative and practised writer, Charles-Roux has used careful research and vivid eyewitness accounts to set the pictures in their context of time and place. She makes Chanel live again