Coco Chanel
An Intimate Life
By Lisa Chaney
(Viking Adult, Hardcover, 9780670023097, 464pp.)
Publication Date: November 10, 2011
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback, Compact Disc, Hardcover
Categories: Women, Artists, Architects, Photographers
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The controversial story of Chanel, the twentieth century's foremost fashion icon.
Revolutionizing women's dress, Gabrielle "Coco' Chanel was the twentieth century's most influential designer. Her extraordinary and unconventional journey-from abject poverty to a new kind of glamour- helped forge the idea of modern woman.
Unearthing an astonishing life, this remarkable biography shows how, more than any previous designer, Chanel became synonymous with a rebellious and progressive style. Her numerous liaisons, whose poignant and tragic details have eluded all previous biographers, were the very stuff of legend. Witty and mesmerizing, she became muse, patron, or mistress to the century's most celebrated artists, including Picasso, Dalí, and Stravinsky.
Drawing on newly discovered love letters and other records, Chaney's controversial book reveals the truth about Chanel's drug habit and lesbian affairs. And the question about Chanel's German lover during World War II (was he a spy for the Nazis?) is definitively answered.
While uniquely highlighting the designer's far-reaching influence on the modern arts, Chaney's fascinating biography paints a deeper and darker picture of Coco Chanel than any so far. Movingly, it explores the origins, the creative power, and the secret suffering of this exceptional and often misread woman.
Lisa Chaney is the author most recently of Hide and Seek with Angels: A Life of J. M. Barrie. She formerly taught at Oxford, has broadcast on the history of culture for British TV and radio, and has written for newspapers such as The Guardian and The Independent. She currently lives in York, England.
Coco Chanel's name is synonymous with high fashion and luxury. She was born into extreme poverty, and eventually revolutionized women's fashion. In her recent biography Coco Chanel: An Intimate Life, Lisa Chaney chronicles the life, loves and career of the fashion icon.
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