Vogue On Coco Chanel

Hailed as 'the most influential female designer of the twentieth century', Coco Chanel pioneered classic easy-to-wear fashion for the modern woman. She arrived on the fashion scene when feathers, lace and ostentatious beads were favourites, and proceeded to re-invent couture using new materials, like jersey, for outfits that were suitable for everyday wear yet still elegant. With original illustrations and images from celebrated photographers, such as Cecil Beaton, Bronwyn Cosgrave traces the story of Coco Chanel's iconic designs and glamorous, racy life. In 1921 Coco opened her Chanel boutique in Paris - still a destination store today - and launched her first perfume, Chanel No.5. Perhaps her most important contribution to the fashion world was the simple, much-imitated 'little black dress' which made its debut in 1926. Other landmark creations include the Chanel suit and the quilted handbag. A testament to her lasting influence, these legendary designs remain as popular today as when they first appeared. Vogue, the international fashion bible, has charted the careers of designers through the decades. Its unique archive of photographs, taken by the leading photographers of the day from Cecil Beaton to Mario Testino, and original illustrations, together with its stable of highly respected fashion writers, make Vogue the most authoritative and prestigious source of reference on fashion. With a circulation of over 160,000 and a readership of over 1,400,000, no brand is better positioned to present a library on the great fashion designers of the modern age.

In Vogue on Coco Chanel, acclaimed fashion writer and commentator Bronwyn Cosgrave traces the story of Coco Chanel's iconic designs and glamorous, racy life. Featuring original illustrations and images from celebrated photographers, such as Cecil Beaton, the book provides a completely fresh look at the fashion designer, who is arguably 'the most influential female designer of the twentieth century'. Coco Chanel pioneered classic easy-to-wear fashion for the modern woman. Perhaps her most important contribution to the fashion world was the simple, much-imitated 'little black dress', which made its debut in 1926. Other landmark creations include the Chanel suit and the quilted handbag. It is a testament to her lasting influence that these legendary designs remain as popular today as when they first appeared.

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

"The exhibition The Woman Who Reads has been presented in Venice at the Ca' Pesaro, International Gallery of Modern Art from September 17th, 2016 to January 8th, 2017"--Page 392.

This explosive narrative reveals for the first time the shocking hidden years of Coco Chanel’s life: her collaboration with the Nazis in Paris, her affair with a master spy, and her work for the German military intelligence service and Himmler’s SS. Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was the high priestess of couture who created the look of the modern woman. By the 1920s she had amassed a fortune and went on to create an empire. But her life from 1941 to 1954 has long been shrouded in rumor and mystery, never clarified by Chanel or her many biographers. Hal Vaughan exposes the truth of her wartime collaboration and her long affair with the playboy Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage—who ran a spy ring and reported directly to Goebbels. Vaughan pieces together how Chanel became a Nazi agent, how she escaped arrest after the war and joined her lover in exile in Switzerland, and how—despite suspicions about her past—she was able to return to Paris at age seventy and rebuild the iconic House of Chanel.

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!