Chanel

by Harold Koda, Andrew Bolton, Olivier Saillard

This splendid book examines the legacy of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, one of the twentieth century's great icons of style. While Chanel mythologized her glamorous life through relentless self-invention, the bare facts of her biography are no less worthy than her legend: born of a poor family in the provinces and raised in a convent, she was an entertainer and the mistress of men of impeccable social standing, and she began her career not as a dressmaker but as a milliner.

Chanel's enduring influence is necessarily based on the long shadow cast over fashion by her maison couture. Chanel examines the history of the House of Chanel both thematically and chronologically, introducing ideas and elements of biography as they were expressed in her collections. Period examples are juxtaposed with the work of Karl Lagerfeld, who, beginning in 1983, just over ten years after Chanel's death, reinvented and revolutionized the House's identity. It is in Lagerfeld's masterful and often irreverent interpretations of Chanel's work, as well as his mixing of influences from high and low culture, that the historic importance of Chanel and the resonance of her image as the independent, elegant modern woman are both defined and reasserted for the contemporary world.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Biography, Reference, Art

216 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2005

About the author

Harold Koda (3 January 3, 1950) is an American fashion scholar, curator, and the former curator-in-chief of the Anna Wintour Costume Center at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reviews

[Isabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful addition/pendant to the Chanel biography I read, this is a Met publication that skillfully covers the whole span of the "maison Chanel" output: frocks, suits, jewelry, purses, shoes and of course perfume.
We are also given an opportunity to compare Chanel's and Lagerfeld's work, which is very interesting.

The text is minimal, yet well thought out. A very impartial portrait of Chanel is painted: her talent, her incredible success story but also her failures and her personal flaws.

The illustrations are plentiful, well documented and particularly appealing to the eye as, with some rare exceptions, they are photographs and watercolors all at once.

In the context of the book, I could see that Lagerfeld's work tries to perpetuate the aura of Chanel's work, but not necessarily her beliefs in terms of fashion, elegance and of course women (femininity and feminism).
Somehow, I see St Laurent as Chanel's true heir...

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Mademoiselle Chanel and wanted to see more of her fashions through the years, rather than just the few icons I could remember. This book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides gorgeous artistic pictures on otherwise blank pages which makes them beautiful. Strangely, they are not arranged chronologically and the commentary on each dress is listed in the back index which makes for a bit of awkward flipping back and forth.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of beautiful clothes.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for anyone you appreciates the history of fashion. Pictures from a Metropolitan Museum of Art show featuring original Chanel pieces.

[T H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful selection