"A revolutionary fashion icon, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel can lay claim to inventing modern women's fashion. At the beginning of the twentieth century, she stripped women of their corsets, bobbed their hair, and sent them out into the sun to get a tan. She introduced the little black dress, created women's trousers, and produced the exquisitely made suits that became her trademark. She designed the first-ever couture perfume-No. 5-whose square-cut, cubist bottle became a symbol of art deco style, and which remains the most popular scent ever created. Her ideas on elegance and what it meant to be a modern woman created an immutable sense of style that still resonates today. Published to accompany a landmark exhibition in Paris, Gabrielle Chanel chronicles the designer's life from birth through the evolution of her timeless style. Specially commissioned photographs by Julien T. Hamon showcase her designs, while essays from fashion historians complemented by rare archival documents, including pictures of Chanel herself, paint a portrait of the designer in her time. This volume is a must-have for all fashion fans and students"--
Foreword / Miren Arzalluz -- The many Chanels / Olivier Saillard -- The early days of the ‘artist of the Rue Gambon’ / Sophie Grossiord -- Freedom and elegance on the Basque Coast / Miren Arzalluz -- Sem and Chanel : building an identity / Laurent Cotta -- The dragonfly and the bull / Claude Arnaud -- Fashioning flowers / Amy de la Haye -- A holistic vision of beauty / Julie Deydier -- Chanel : The new woman as dandy / Caroline Evans -- ‘Bijoux des diamants’ : the glittering triumph of Gabrielle Chanel / Marie-Laure Gutton -- The Chanel suit : the shape of freedom / Véronique Belloir -- Chanel accessories : the building blocks of style / Marie-Laure Gutton -- Chanel : the American way / Alexandra Palmer -- Gabrielle Chanel and her doubles / Sylvie Lécallier -- Chanel and the cinema : the rules of the game / Marion Langlois and Régis Robert -- Chanel’s interiors / Laurent Cotta -- A chronology of Gabrielle Chanel -- List of exhibited works.