Chanel A Woman of Her Own Author:Axel Madsen Chanel. The name means fashion and perfume, emancipation and feminine allure. Now Axel Madsen has written a compelling, intimate biography of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, of the passionate woman who conquered dukes, artists, and politicians, of the designer who revolutionized the way women looked--forever. — From her penniless start as a bastard and ... more »an orphan to her death at age eighty-eight, wealthy and famous yet very much alone, Coco Chanel led an extraordinary life. She began as a kept woman making hats for her lover's other mistresses and went on to become fashion's greatest career woman. She never married or had children, but men like Igor Stravinsky and the Duke of Westminster abandoned their families for her.
Coco was an intimate friend of Picasso, Cocteau, Churchill, and the Duke of Windsor and the lover of a succession of wealthy and powerful men--Boy Capel, the English playboy; Grand Duke Dmitri, in exile from Russia; Pierre Reverdy, the French poet; Spatz, a German spy; and the Duke of Westminster, who would have made her his duchess had she borne him an heir. Yet she remained alone, wed only to her business, the House of Chanel. There she revolutionized fashion--inventing sportswear, the little black dress, costume jewelry, and the perfume Marilyn Monroe said was all she wore to bed. She died on a Sunday in January 1971, the only day of the week she could die, her friends said, for on Sunday the House of Chanel was closed.
Lavishly illustrated with photographs of Coco Chanel and her celebrated friends and lovers, "Chanel: A Woman of Her Own" is the story of the magnificent woman who was a force and legend in her time and ours.« less