Coco Chanel: A Biography

by Axel Madsen (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1991

  $8.02

  The name Chanel evokes simple fashion and exotic perfumes, emancipation and casual feminine allure. Gabrielle Chanel began as a kept woman and went on to become fashion's greatest career woman. She never married or had children, but Igor Stravinsky abandoned his family for her. She died in 1971, aged 88, having risen from a penniless start to wealth and fame. In her lifetime she had friendships with Picasso, Cocteau, Churchill and a succession of lovers, who included Boy Capel, the English playboy, Grand Duke Dmitri, Pierre Reverdy, the French poet, Spatz, a German spy and the Duke of Westminster, who would have made her a duchess had she borne him an heir. Fully illustrated with photographs of Coco Chanel and her celebrated friends and lovers, Chanel is the story of a legendary figure, whose ideas changed the face of fashion, and whose personal life holds a continuing fascination.

• Used

  paperback
  

  $3.44

  Coco Chanel's genius for fashion may have been distilled in simplicity, but her life was an extravaganza. A brilliant array of luminaries fell under her spell - Picasso, Churchill, Cocteau; lovers included the Grand Duke Dmitri; the English roue, Boy Capel; a French poet; and, a German spy and the Duke of Westminster, who offered to leave his wife for her permanently, if she would only bear him an heir. Paradoxically, though she might have been regarded in some lights as a pioneering feminist - sacrificing marriage to a revolutionary career in couture - Chanel was utterly baffled by the idea of women's politics. Educated women? 'A woman's education consists of two lessons: never leave the house without stockings, never go out without a hat'. Chanel's rise from penniless orphan to millionaire designer - 'inventing' sportswear, the little black dress and number 5 - makes compelling reading, not least because she was inclined to design her own life as deftly as she did her fashions. Axel Madsen negotiates Chanel's smoke screens with skill, bringing this tantalizing woman to life in all her alluring complexity.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1990

  $91.72

  The name Chanel evokes simple fashion and exotic perfumes, emancipation and casual feminine allure. Gabrielle Chanel began as a kept woman and went on to become fashion's greatest career woman. She never married or had children, but Igor Stravinsky abandoned his family for her. She died in 1971, aged 88, having risen from a penniless start to wealth and fame. In her lifetime she had friendships with Picasso, Cocteau, Churchill and a succession of lovers, who included Boy Capel, the English playboy, Grand Duke Dmitri, Pierre Reverdy, the French poet, Spatz, a German spy and the Duke of Westminster, who would have made her a duchess had she borne him an heir. Fully illustrated with photographs of Coco Chanel and her celebrated friends and lovers, Chanel is the story of a legendary figure, whose ideas changed the face of fashion, and whose personal life holds a continuing fascination.

• New

  paperback
  

  $18.08

  Coco Chanel's genius for fashion may have been distilled in simplicity, but her life was an extravaganza. A brilliant array of luminaries fell under her spell - Picasso, Churchill, Cocteau; lovers included the Grand Duke Dmitri; the English roue, Boy Capel; a French poet; and, a German spy and the Duke of Westminster, who offered to leave his wife for her permanently, if she would only bear him an heir. Paradoxically, though she might have been regarded in some lights as a pioneering feminist - sacrificing marriage to a revolutionary career in couture - Chanel was utterly baffled by the idea of women's politics. Educated women? 'A woman's education consists of two lessons: never leave the house without stockings, never go out without a hat'. Chanel's rise from penniless orphan to millionaire designer - 'inventing' sportswear, the little black dress and number 5 - makes compelling reading, not least because she was inclined to design her own life as deftly as she did her fashions. Axel Madsen negotiates Chanel's smoke screens with skill, bringing this tantalizing woman to life in all her alluring complexity.