Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel (August 19, 1883 - January 10, 1971) is a French fashion designer and a business woman. He is the founder and the name of the Chanel brand. Chanel is credited in the post-World War I era by freeing women from the limits of "corset silhouettes" and popularizing the sporty, casual style of chic as a feminine style standard. A prolific mode creator, Chanel expanded its influence beyond couture clothing, embodying its design aesthetics in jewelry, handbags, and fragrances. Its distinctive aroma, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product. She is the only fashion designer listed on the magazine list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Chanel designed his famous CC monogram, which means Coco Chanel, used it since the 1920s.
Chanel's social connections appear to foster a very conservative personal view. Rumors arose about Chanel's activities during the German occupation of France during World War II, and he was criticized for being too comfortable with Germany. One of Chanel's connectors was with a German diplomat, Baron ( Freiherr ) Hans GÃÆ'¼nther von Dincklage. After the war ended, Chanel was interrogated about his relationship with von Dincklage, but he was not prosecuted as a collaborator. After several years in Switzerland after the war, he returned to Paris and revived his modern home. In 2011, Hal Vaughan published a book on Chanel based on recently declassified documents at the time, revealing that he had collaborated with Germany in intelligence activities. A plan at the end of 1943 for him was to bring a separate peace SS to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to end the war. Early life
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 from an unmarried mother, Eugene Jeanne Devolle - known as Jeanne - a woman janitor, in a charity hospital run by the Providence Sisters (poor house) in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire , France. She is Jeanne's second child with Albert Chanel; the first, Julia, was born less than a year earlier. Albert Chanel is a traveling salesman who sells work clothes and underwear, lives in nomadic life, travels to and from market towns. The family lives in rundown lodgings. In 1884, he married Jeanne Devolle, was persuaded to do so by his "united, effective, family to pay Albert to marry her." At birth, Chanel's name is incorporated into the official registry as "Chasnel". Jeanne was too unhealthy to attend the registration, and Albert was listed as "traveling". With both parents absent, the baby's last name was misspelled, probably because of an administrative error. The couple had five surviving children - two boys and three girls - who live together in a one-room inn in the town of Brive-la-Gaillarde.
When Gabrielle was 12 years old, her mother died of tuberculosis at the age of 32. Her father sent her two sons to work as a farm laborer and sent her three daughters to CorrÃÆ'¨ze, in central France, to the abbey of Aubazine, who runs an orphanage. His religious order, the Sacred Heart of Mary Congregation, "was established to care for the poor and to be rejected, including running homes for abandoned girls and orphans." It was a hard and simple life, demanding strict discipline. Apart from this tragedy, being placed in an orphanage is probably the best for Coco's future because that's where she learns to sew. At the age of eighteen, Chanel, who was too old to live in Aubazine, went to live in a boarding house set aside for Catholic girls in the town of Moulins.
Later in his life, Chanel will retell his childhood story somewhat differently; he often includes more glamorous accounts, which are generally not true. He says that when his mother died, his father sailed to America to seek his fortune, and he was sent to live with two aunts. He also claimed to have been born a decade later than 1883 and that his mother had died when he was much younger than 12 years old.
Video Coco Chanel
Personal life and career start
Aspiration for stage care
After learning the art of sewing for six years at Aubazine, Chanel was able to find a job as a tailor. When not inserting the needle, he sings in a cabaret frequented by cavalry officers. Chanel made his stage debut singing at the concert café in the Moulins pavilion, "La Rotonde". He included another woman dubbed "poseuse", a player who entertained the audience among the star turn. The money earned is what they manage to collect when the plates are passed between viewers in recognition of their performance. It is at this point that Gabrielle gets the name "Coco", probably based on two popular songs with which she is recognized, "Ko Ko Ri Ko", and "Qui qu'a vu Coco", or it is an allusion to the French word for a fulfilled woman < i> cocotte . As a cafà © © entertainer, Chanel exudes teen charms that tease the military habituà © from the cabaret.
In 1906, Chanel worked in the resort spa town of Vichy. Vichy boasted many concert halls, theaters and cafes where he hoped to achieve success as a player. Chanel's youth and physical charm impressed the people he auditioned for, but his singing voice was marginal and he failed to find a stage job. Required to find a job, he works in "Grande Grille", where as a donneuse d'eau he is one of the women whose job it is to deliver the curly water glasses reputedly curative that Vichy is already famous for. When Vichy's season ends, Chanel returns to Moulins, and his former haunts "La Rotonde". He now realizes that a serious stage career is not in his future.
Balsan and Capel
At Moulins, Chanel meets with a former French cavalry officer and a rich textile heir ÃÆ' â € ° tienne Balsan. At the age of twenty-three, Chanel became Balsan's employer, replacing prostitute ÃÆ' â € ° milienne d'AlenÃÆ'§on as his new favorite. For the next three years, he stayed with him at chÃÆ'  ¢ teau Royallieu near CompiÃÆ'¨gne, an area known for horse riding and hunting life. It is a pampering lifestyle; Balsan's riches and comforts enable the planting of a social set of joyful celebrations and gratifications of human tastes, with all the accompanying decadence; Balsan devotes Chanel with the beauty of "rich life" - diamonds, dresses, and pearls. Biography Justine Picardie, in his 2010 study Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life (Harper Collins), points out that the fashion designer nephew Andrà © Palasse, supposedly the only child of his sister Julia-Berthe who had committed suicide, was Chanel's son by Balsan.
In 1908, Chanel began an affair with one of Balsan's friends, Captain Arthur Edward 'Boy' Capel. In recent years, Chanel recalls the moment in his life: "two men beat my small, hot body." Capel, a wealthy British upper class member, put Chanel in an apartment in Paris. and finance the first store. It is said that Capel fashion style affects Chanel's conception of appearance. Bottle Design for Channel No. 5 has two possible origins, both due to the sophisticated design sensitivity of the Capel. It is believed Chanel adapted the oblique and rectangular lines of the bottles of Charvet toiletries he carried in his leather bag or he adapted the design of the whiskey Capel used; he admired him so much that he wanted to reproduce it in "beautiful, expensive, and delicate glass". The couple spend time together in fashionable resorts like Deauville, but despite Chanel's hope that they will stay together, Capel has never been loyal to him. Their affair lasts nine years. Even after Capel married a British nobleman, Lady Diana Wyndham in 1918, she did not completely sever ties with Chanel. He died in a car accident on December 21, 1919. A roadside warning at the crash site of Capel is said to have been commissioned by Chanel. Twenty-five years after the incident, Chanel, who later resides in Switzerland, confessed to his friend, Paul Morand: "His death was a terrible blow for me." In losing Capel I lost everything. What happens next is not a happy life.. "
Chanel began designing hats while living with Balsan, initially as a diversion that evolved into a commercial company. He became a licensed milliner in 1910 and opened a boutique in 21 rue Cambon, Paris, which was named Chanel Mode . Since this location has become an established clothing business place, Chanel only sells its factory creations at this address. The Chanel engine factory career was blooming after the theater actress Gabrielle Dorziat wore a hat in the game Fernand NoziÃÆ'¨re Bel Ami in 1912. Subsequently, Dorziat imitated Chanel's hat again in a photo published in Les Modes. i>.
Deauville and Biarritz
In 1913, Chanel opened a boutique in Deauville, funded by Arthur Capel, where he introduced luxurious casual suits suitable for leisure and sport. Clothing is made from simple fabrics such as jersey and tricot, at that time mainly used for men's clothing. The location is very prime, in the center of town on a fashionable street. Here Chanel sells hats, jackets, sweaters, and mariniÃÆ'¨re , blouse sailor. Chanel has the special support of two family members, his sister, Antoinette, and the aunt of his father, Adrienne, who at the same age. Adrienne and Antoinette were recruited to model Chanel's design; every day the two women paraded across town and on the sidewalk, advertising Chanel creations.
Chanel, determined to recreate the success he enjoyed at Deauville, opened an establishment in Biarritz in 1915. Biarritz, located in CÃÆ'Â'te Basque, close to wealthy Spanish clients, had a neutral status during World War I, which allowing it to be a playground for the cashed people and those who are exiled from their home country by hostility. The Biarritz store is set up not as a storefront, but in a villa across from the casino. After one year of operation, the business proved so profitable that in 1916 Chanel was able to replace the initial investment of Capel. This is his only decision; he did not consult the Capel. It was in Biarritz that Chanel became acquainted with an expatriate nobleman, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia. They have a romantic distraction, and maintain a close relationship for many years afterwards. In 1919, Chanel was listed as couturiÃÆ'¨re and founded maison de couture at 31 rue Cambon, Paris.
Maps Coco Chanel
Established couturiÃÆ'¨re
In 1918, Chanel bought the entire building at 31 rue Cambon, located in one of Paris's most fashionable districts. In 1921, he opened what was considered an early incarnation of fashion boutiques, featuring clothing, hats and accessories, then expanded to offer jewelry and fragrances. In 1927, Chanel had five properties on the rue Cambon, which included buildings numbering 23 to 31.
In the spring of 1920 (around May), Chanel was introduced to Russian composer Igor Stravinsky by Sergei Diaghilev, an impresario of Ballet Russes. During the summer, Chanel discovered that the Stravinsky family was looking for a place to live, after leaving the Soviet Union after the war. He invites them to his new home, "Bel Respiro," in the Paris suburb of Garches, until they can find a more suitable residence. They arrived at "Bel Respiro" during the second week of September and remained until May 1921. Chanel also ensured Ballet Russes new production from Stravinsky Le Sacre du Printemps The Rite of Spring ) against a financial loss with an anonymous prize for Diaghilev, said 300,000 francs. In addition to releasing his couture collection, Chanel threw his incredible energy in designing dance costumes for the latest Russes Ballet. Between 1923-1937, he collaborated in the production of choreography by Diaghilev and dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, notably Le Train bleu, an opera-dance; OrphÃÆ' Â © e and Oedipe Roi .
In 1922, at the Longchamps race, ThÃÆ' Â © ophile Bader, founder of Paris Galeries Lafayette, introduced Chanel to businessman Pierre Wertheimer. Bader is keen to inaugurate Chanel no. 5 in his department store. In 1924, Chanel made a deal with the Wertheimer brothers, Pierre and Paul, the director since 1917 of the famous perfume and Bourjois cosmetics house. They created a corporate entity, "Chanel Parfums," and Wertheimers agreed to provide full financing for Chanel production, marketing and distribution. 5. The Wertheimers will receive seventy percent of the profits, and the Badh sharehough of twenty percent. For a ten per cent share, Chanel licensed his name to Parfums Chanel and withdrew from involvement in all business operations. Unhappy with the arrangements, Chanel worked for over twenty years to gain complete control of Chanel Parfums . He said that Pierre Wertheimer was a "bandit who screwed me up".
One of Chanel's longest lasting associations is with Misia Sert, a prominent member of the bohemian elite in Paris and wife of the Spanish painter José © © Maria Sert. It is said that they are a direct bond like a soul, and Mishia is attracted to Chanel by his "genius, deadly ingenuity, sarcasm and mad destruction, which tickles and shocks everyone." Both women attend school, and maintain friendships with similar interests and beliefs. They also share drug use. In 1935, Chanel had become a mediocre drug user, injecting morphine every day, a habit he maintained until his death. According to Chandler Burr's The Emperor of Scent, Luca Turin recounts an apocryphal story circulating that Chanel â € Å"named Coco because he threw the most fabulous cocaine party in Parisâ €.
The author of Colette, who moved in the same social milieu as Chanel, gave a strange description of Chanel at work in his workshop, which appeared in "Prisons et Paradis" (1932). "If every human face bears a resemblance to some animals, then Mademoiselle Chanel is a small black bull, a speck of curly black hair, the attribute of a female cow, falls on his eyebrows up to the eyelids and dances with every maneuver, his head."
Association with British aristocrat
In 1923, Vera Bate Lombardi, (born Sarah Gertrude Arkwright), who supposedly was the illegitimate son of the Marquess of Cambridge, gave Chanel access to the highest level of the British aristocracy. It was an elite group of associates who revolved around figures such as politicians Winston Churchill, nobles like the Duke of Westminster, and nobles like Edward, Prince of Wales. At Monte Carlo in 1923, at the age of forty, Chanel was introduced by Lombardi to the very rich Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, known by his best friend as "Bendor". The Duke of Westminster devotes Chanel with expensive jewelry, expensive art, and a home in London's prestigious Mayfair district. Her affair with Chanel lasted ten years.
The Duke, a vocal anti-Semitic, intensified the antipathy Chanel attached to the Jews. She shares with an expressed homophobia. In 1946, Chanel was quoted by his friend and confidant, Paul Morand:
- "Homosexual?... I have seen young women marred by these strange people: drugs, divorce, scandals They will use all means to destroy competitors and to wreak a grudge against a woman. want to be a woman - but they are bad ladies.. They are charming! "
Coinciding with his introduction to the Duke, was his introduction, again through Lombardi, to Lombardi's cousin, Prince of Wales, Edward VIII. The Prince is suspected of being infatuated with Chanel and chasing him regardless of his involvement with the Duke of Westminster. Gossip said that he visited Chanel in his apartment and requested that he call him "David", a privilege reserved only for his closest friends and family. Years later, Diana Vreeland, editor of Vogue, will insist that "a vigorous, focused and highly independent Chanel, a virtual tour," and the Prince "have a great romantic moment together".
In 1927, the Duke of Westminster gave Chanel a piece of land he bought at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in the French Riviera. Chanel built his villa here, which he called La Pausa ("quiet break"), employed architect Robert Streitz. Streitz's concept of staircases and terraces contains design elements inspired by Aubazine, the orphanage in which Chanel spent his youth. When asked why he did not marry the Duke of Westminster, he should have said: "There are some Duchesses of Westminster, only one Chanel."
Designing for movies
In 1931, while in Monte Carlo Chanel became acquainted with Samuel Goldwyn. He was introduced through a friend, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, a cousin to the last Russian tsar, Nicolas II. Goldwyn offers Chanel a tantalizing proposition. For the amount of a million dollars (about seventy-five million in the twenty-first century judgment), he will take him to Hollywood twice a year to design costumes for MGM stars. Chanel accepted the offer. Accompanying him on his first trip to Hollywood was his friend Misia Sert.
On a trip to California from New York, traveling in a luxuriously equipped white carriage car for use, Chanel was interviewed by Colliers magazine in 1932. He said he had agreed to go to Hollywood to "see what the pictures have to offer me and what I offer pictures. "Chanel designed gloria Swanson's on-screen outfits at Night or Never (1931), and for Ina Claire at People The Greeks Have Words for Them (1932). Both Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich became private clients.
His experience with American filmmaking left Chanel with a dislike for the Hollywood film business and his hatred for the world's film culture, which he criticized as "childish". Chanel's verdict is that "Hollywood is the capital of bad taste... and it's vulgar." Ultimately, the design aesthetics are not well translated into the film. The New Yorker speculates that Chanel has left Hollywood because "they say her dress is not sensational enough, she makes women look like women, Hollywood wants a woman to look like two women." Chanel went on to design costumes for several French films, including Jean Renoir's 1939 film La RÃÆ'¨gle du jeu, where he is credited as La Maison Chanel. Chanel introduced the left-wing Renoir to Luchino Visconti, realizing that the shy Italian hopes to work in the film. Renoir was very impressed by Visconti and took him to work on his next film project.
Important connectors: Reverdy and Iribe
Chanel was a mistress of some of the most influential men of his time, but he never married. He has a significant relationship with poet Pierre Reverdy and illustrator and designer Paul Iribe. After his romance with Reverdy ended in 1926, they maintained a friendship lasting forty years. It is postulated that the legendary adage associated with Chanel and published in a magazine was created under Reverdy's guidance - a cooperative effort.
"His correspondence review reveals a complete contradiction between Chanel's letters' clumsiness and Chanel's talent as a proverbial composer... After correcting a handful of pearl words Chanel wrote about him, he added to this" Chanelisms "collection a series of thoughts about more general traits, some touching life and taste, others about charm and love. "
His involvement with Iribe was profound until his sudden death in 1935. Iribe and Chanel shared the same reactionary politics, Chanel financed Icke's monthly bulletin, ultra-nationalist and anti-republic, Le TÃÆ' Â © moin, that encourages the irrational fear of foreigners and preaches anti-Semitism. In 1936, one year after Le TÃÆ'n moin stopped rising, Chanel turned to the end of the ideological continuum by financing the radical left wing magazine Pierre Lestringuez Futur .
Compete with Schiaparelli
The Chanel couture is a profitable business enterprise, in 1935 employing 4,000 people. As the 1930s flourished, Chanel's place on the haute couture throne was threatened. The childish look and flapper short skirt of 1920 seemed to disappear overnight. Chanel's design for movie stars in Hollywood did not work and did not improve his reputation as expected. More importantly, Chanel's star has been defeated by his main rival, designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Schiaparelli's innovative design, complete with funny references to Surrealism, gained critical recognition and aroused the enthusiasm in the fashion world. Feeling he lost his avant-garde edge, Chanel collaborated with Jean Cocteau in his theater section of Oedipe Rex . The costumes he designed were ridiculed and critically criticized: "Wrapped in bandages, the actors looked like ambulance mummies or victims of some horrific accidents." She is also involved in making costumes Baccanale , Ballet Russes. production of Monte Carlo. The design was made by Salvador DalÃÆ'. However, due to the British war declaration on September 3, 1939, the ballet was forced to leave London. They left the costumes in Europe and were remade, according to the original design of Dali, by Karinska.
World War II
In 1939, at the beginning of World War II, Chanel closed his shop, defending his apartment which is located above the couture house at 31 Rue de Cambon. He said that it was not time for fashion; as a result of its actions, 4,000 female employees lost their jobs. His biographer Vaughan pointed out that Chanel used the outbreak of war as an opportunity to retaliate against workers who, lobbying for higher wages and shorter working hours, had shut down his business operations against his will during a general labor strike in France in 1936. home couture- Chanel made a definitive statement about his political views. His dislike of the Jews, reportedly implanted by monasteries and sharpened by his association with the elite of the community, has established his conviction. He shared with many a belief that Jews were a threat to Europe because of the Bolshevik government in the Soviet Union.
During the German occupation, Chanel stayed at the Ritz Hotel. It is worth noting as a desirable residence for the upper echelons of the German military staff. His romantic relationship with Baron ( Freiherr ) Hans GÃÆ'¼nther von Dincklage, a German diplomat in Paris and a former Prussian Army officer and the Attorney General who had been a military intelligence operation since 1920, lightened his arrangement at the Ritz.
Fight to control Chanel Parfums
World War II, in particular Nazi occupation of all Jewish property and business businesses, gave Chanel an opportunity to gain the full monetary wealth generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable products, Chanel No. 5 The directors of Parfums Chanel, Wertheimer, are Jewish. Chanel used his position as "Aryan" to petition German officials to legalize his claim of sole ownership.
- On May 5, 1941, he wrote a letter to a government administrator accused of having power over the disposition of Jewish financial assets. The reason for ownership of ownership is based on the claim that Parfums Chanel "still belongs to the Jew" and has been legally "abandoned" by the owner.
"I have," he wrote, "an undeniable priority right... the benefits I have received from my creation since the foundation of this business... disproportionate... [and] you can help correct some of the prejudices I have suffered for seventeen This year. "
Chanel did not realize that Wertheimers, anticipating the Nazi mandate that would come against the Jews, in May 1940, legally changed the control of Chanel's Parfums to FÃÆ' Ã… © lix Amiot, a French Christian businessman and industrialist. At the end of the war, Amiot returned "Chanel Parfums" into the hands of Wertheimers.
During that period directly after the end of World War II, the business world watched with interest and some concerns about the ongoing lawsuits to control Chanel Parfums. Those interested in the process are aware that Nazi Chanel affiliates during wartime, if known to the public, will greatly threaten Chanel's reputation and brand status. Forbes magazine summed up the dilemma faced by Wertheimers: [it was Pierre Wertheimer's concern] how "legal battles might illuminate Chanel's wartime activities and damage his image - and his business."
Chanel hired Renà © de Chambrun, Vichy's French son-in-law, Prime Minister Pierre Laval, as his lawyer to sue Wertheimer. Finally, Wertheimers and Chanel came to the accommodation together, renegotiating the original 1924 contract. On May 17, 1947, Chanel received a war advantage from the sale of Chanel. 5, in an amount equivalent to about nine million dollars in the assessment of the twenty-first century. Its future share is two percent of all No Chanel sales worldwide. The financial benefits to him are huge. His earnings are projected at $ 25 million per year, making him at that time one of the richest women in the world. In addition, Pierre Wertheimer agreed to the unusual provisions filed by Chanel himself. Wertheimer agrees to pay all Chanel's living expenses - from the trivial to the great - for the rest of his life.
Activities as a Nazi agent
Unexplored archival documents unearthed by the biographer Hal Vaughan reveal that French Prastile de France has documents in Chanel in which it is described as "Couturier and perfumer." Pseudonyms: Westminster Reference agent: F 7124. Recognized as a suspect in file "( Pseudonym: Westminster. Indicative d'agent: F 7124. SignalÃÆ'Â © e comme suspecte au fichier ). For Vaughan, this is a piece of revelatory information that connects Chanel with German intelligence operations. Anti-Nazi activist Serge Klarsfeld stated, "That's not because Chanel has a spy he personally implies, some informants have numbers without realizing it." (" Ce n'est pas parce que Coco Chanel avait un numÃÆ' Â © ro d espion qu'elle ÃÆ' Â © tait nÃÆ' Â © cessairement impliquÃÆ' Â © e personnellement.Certainly indicates avaient des numÃÆ' Â © ros sans le savoir ").
Vaughan determined that Chanel had committed to Germany since 1941 and worked for General Walter Schellenberg, head of the German intelligence services Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) and military intelligence spy network Abwehr (Counter intelligence) at the Reich Main Security Office ( Reichssicherheitshauptamt ) in Berlin. At the end of the war, Schellenberg was tried by the Nuremberg Military Courts, and was sentenced to six years in prison for war crimes. He was released in 1951 due to an incurable liver disease and refuge in Italy. Chanel paid for medical treatment and Schellenberg's living expenses, financially supported his wife and family, and paid Schellenberg's funeral for his death in 1952.
Modellhut Operation
In 1943, Chanel went to Reich's Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) in Berlin - "lion's den" -with a link and "old friend", the German Embassy in Paris press attachà ©  Baron ( Freiherr Hans GÃÆ'¼nther von Dincklage, former Prussian Army officer and Attorney General, also known as "Sparrow" among his friends and colleagues. Dincklage is also a collaborator for the German Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service); his superiors are Walter Schellenberg and Alexander Waag in Berlin. Chanel and Dincklage report to Walter Schellenberg at the Reich's Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt) with a ludicrous plan that Chanel has proposed to Dincklage: He, Coco Chanel, wants to meet British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and persuade him for secret negotiations with Germany. In late 1943 or early 1944, Chanel and his SS superintendent, Schellenberg, who had weaknesses for unusual actions, devised a plan to ask the UK to consider a separate peace to be negotiated by the SS. When interrogated by British intelligence at the end of the war, Schellenberg stated that Chanel was "someone who knew Churchill enough to have political negotiations with him". For this mission, code named Operation Modellhut (Operation Model Hat), they also recruit Vera Bate Lombardi. Count Joseph von Ledebur-Wicheln, a Nazi agent who defected to the British Secret Service in 1944, recalled a meeting he had made with Dincklage in early 1943, in which the baron had suggested including Lombardi as a courier. Dincklage reportedly said, "The Abwehr must first bring to France a young Italian woman [Lombardi] Coco Chanel is bound for her lesbian crime..."
Unaware of Schellenberg's and Chanel's intrigues, Lombardi is led to believe that an upcoming trip to Spain will be a business trip to explore the potential to establish Chanel's couture in Madrid. Lombardi acted as an intermediary, sending a letter written by Chanel to Winston Churchill, to be forwarded to him through the British embassy in Madrid. SS Schellenberg's liaison officer, Captain Walter Kutschmann, acted as bagman, "told to send large sums of money to Chanel in Madrid". In the end, the mission proved a failure for Germany. British intelligence files revealed that the plan collapsed after Lombardi, upon arrival in Madrid, went on to denounce Chanel and others to the British embassy as a Nazi spy.
Protection from prosecution
In September 1944, Chanel was summoned for interrogation by the French Free Cleaning Committee, ÃÆ' Â © puration . The committee has no documented proof of its collaborative activity and is obligated to release it. According to Chanel's nephew, Gabrielle Palasse Labrunie, when Chanel came home, he said, "Churchill delivered me."
Churchill's level of interference with Chanel after the war was subject to rumors and speculation. Some historians claim that people are worried that, if Chanel is forced to testify about his own activities in court, he will expose the sympathy and pro-Nazi activity of top English officials, members of the elite, and the royal family. Vaughan writes that some claim that Churchill instructed Duff Cooper, the British ambassador to the French interim government, to protect Chanel.
Asked to appear in Paris before investigators in 1949, Chanel left his retreat in Switzerland to face the testimony given to him in the war crimes tribunal Baron Louis de Vaufreland, a French traitor and a highly placed German intelligence agent. Chanel denies all of the allegations. He offered the presiding judge, Leclercq, a character reference: "I can arrange a declaration to come from Mr. Duff Cooper."
Chanel's friend and biographer Marcel Haedrich says of his wartime interactions with the Nazi regime: "If one takes seriously some of the disclosures made by Mademoiselle Chanel himself about the dark occupation period, one's teeth will get better."
Controversy
When Vaughan's book was published in August 2011, his disclosure of the contents of a recently classified military intelligence document caused much controversy about Chanel's activities. House of Chanel issued a statement, its parts published in many media. The Chanel company "denounces the claims" (from espionage), while admitting that company officials only read media citations from the book.
The Chanel group stated, "It is certainly not the best period to have a love affair with a German even if Baron von Dincklage is English by his mother and he (Chanel) knew him before the War."
In an interview given to the Associated Press, the Vaughan writer discussed an unexpected turn of his research.
I looked for something else and I found this document by saying 'Chanel is a Nazi agent'... Then I actually started hunting through all the archives, in the United States, in London, in Berlin and in Rome and I came not just one , but 20, 30, 40 really solid archival material on Chanel and his lover, Hans GÃÆ'¼nther von Dincklage, who is a professional Abwehr spy.
Vaughan also expressed the inconvenience many felt with the revelation given in his book: "Many people in this world do not want the iconic figure Gabrielle Coco Chanel, one of France's great cultural idols, is destroyed.This is definitely something many people prefer to rule out, forget, just go sell Chanel shawls and jewelry. "
Post-war life and career
In 1945, Chanel moved to Switzerland, where he lived for several years, part of the time with Dincklage. In 1953 he sold his villas La Pausa in French Riviera to Emery Reves publishers and translators. Five rooms of La Pausa have been replicated at the Dallas Art Museum, to accommodate Reves's art collection and Chanel's furniture.
In contrast to the pre-war era, when women reigned as main couturiers, Christian Dior achieved success in 1947 with a "New Look", and a male designer cadre achieved recognition: Dior, CristÃÆ'³bal Balenciaga, Robert Piguet, and Jacques Fath. Chanel believes that women will eventually rebel against the aesthetics favored by male couturiers, what she calls "illogical" design: "waist cinchers, padded bra, thick skirts, and stiff jackets".
At the age of more than 70 years, after his couture house was closed for 15 years, he felt the time was right for him to re-enter the fashion world. The revival of the couture house in 1954 was fully funded by Chanel's opponent in the war of perfume, Pierre Wertheimer. The 1954 Chanel comel collection received a "venomous" response from the French press, not only because Chanel has not regained his reputation after his controversial war activities, but because his clothes are seen to be essentially conservative and offer little novelty. Bettina Ballard, the influential editor of the American Vogue, remained true to Chanel, and featured the model Marie-HÃÆ'Ã… © lÃÆ'¨ne Arnaud - "Chanel's face" in the 1950s - in March 1954 published, photographed by Henry Clarke, dressed in three outfits: a red dress with a V-neck, paired with a pearl string; nested seersucker night gown; and, to overcome all that and in response to the public - and Ballard's request - an unbroken Chanel piece - a mid-calendar naval jersey suit. Arnaud was wearing this outfit, "with a slightly padded and shoulder-looking cardigan jacket, two outboard pockets and unbuttoned sleeves to show a clean white cuff," above "a white muslin blouse with a cheerful bow and bow fixed on the spot with a small tab that buttons to the waist of an easy A-line skirt. "Ballard bought the suit itself, which gives" a tremendous impression of elegance, young elegance ", and orders for clothes that model Arnaud soon spilled from America.
Recent years
According to Edmonde Charles-Roux, Chanel has become a tyranny and very lonely in his life. In his last years he was sometimes accompanied by Jacques Chazot and his beloved Lilou Marquand. A loyal friend is also Brazilian Aimà © à © e de Heeren, who lives in Paris four months a year near HÃÆ'Â'tel Meurice. The former rivals share fond memories of times with the Duke of Westminster. They often walk together around the center of Paris.
Death
When 1971 began, Chanel was 87 years old, tired, and ill. He does his usual routine of preparing spring catalogs. He left for a long journey late on Saturday, January 9th. Soon after, feeling sick, he went to bed early. He died on Sunday, January 10, 1971, at the Ritz Hotel, where he has lived for over 30 years. His funeral was held in ÃÆ' â € ° glise de la Madeleine; fashion model occupied the first seat during the ceremony and the casket is covered with white flowers - camellias, kacapiring, orchids, azaleas and some red roses. He died in his famous style, announcing: "You see, this is how you die."
His tomb is located at the Bois-de-Vaux Cemetery, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Most of his land was inherited by his nephew AndrÃÆ' Â © Palasse, who lives in Switzerland, and two daughters, who live in Paris.
Inheritance as a designer
At the beginning of 1915, Harper's Bazaar chirps about Chanel's design: "Women who do not have at least one Chanel despair of fashion... This season Chanel's name is on the lips of every buyer." Chanel's reinforcement is a deadly official blow to the silhouette of a corset girl. The frills, the commotion, and the constraints experienced by the early generations of women are now gone; under its influence - missing are "aigrettes, long hair, lame skirts". The design aesthetics redefined the fashionable woman for the post-World War I era. Chanel's trademark looks young, physically free, and unencumbered sportsmanship.
The culture of the horse and the tendency to hunt so eagerly pursued by the elite, especially the British, fired Chanel's imagination. Her enthusiastic passion in sporting life led to a clothing design informed by the activity. From his visit on the water with the world of cruise ships, he customized the clothes associated with marine activities: horizontal striped shirts, bel-bottom pants, sweater crewneck, and espadrille shoes - all worn by traditional sailors and fishermen.
Jersey Fabric
Chanel's early victory was the innovative use of t-shirts, knitting machines made for him by Rodier's company. These fabrics have traditionally been handed down to the manufacture of underwear. The initial Chanel woolen suits suit consists of a cardigan jacket, and pleated skirt, paired with a low-belted pullover top. This ensemble, which is worn with low heels, becomes a casual look in expensive women's attire. Prior to this, jersey tends to be used only in socks and for sportswear for tennis, golf and beach. Considered to be too "ordinary" to use in couture, it is also disliked by designers because the knitting makes it difficult to handle compared to the woven fabric.
Chanel's introduction of jersey with high-fashion works well for two reasons. First, the war has caused a shortage of other materials and secondly, women want simpler and more practical clothing. Her fluidized sweat suit and gown are created for practicality and allow free movement. It is greatly appreciated at the time because women work for war effort as nurses, in civil service and in factories. Their work involves physical activity and they have to take the train, bus and bicycle to go to work. They want clothes that do not easily give up and can be worn without the help of the maid.
Slavic influence
Designers such as Paul Poiret and Fortuny introduced ethnic references to haute couture in the 1900s and early 1910s. Chanel continued this trend with a Slav-inspired design in the early 1920s. The beads and embroidery on his clothes are now exclusively executed by Kitmir, an embroidered house founded by exiled Russian nobleman, Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, sister of his old lover, Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. The Kitmir blend of oriental stitching with stylized folk motifs is highlighted in Chanel's early collection. One of the evening dresses of 1922 came with a matching embroidered 'babushka' hijab. In addition to the hijab, Chanel's outfit from this period features a square neck, a long bonded blouse that offends Russian clothing muzhiks (farmers) known as roubachka . Night designs are often embroidered with glistening crystals and black jet embroidery.
Channel Settings
Chanel tweed settings built for convenience and practicality. It consists of a jacket and skirt in lightweight wool or lightweight wool or mohair and blouse and a coat jacket in jersey or silk. Chanel does not strengthen the material or use shoulder pads, as is prevalent in contemporary fashion. He cut the jacket on a straight grain, without adding dart breast. It allows quick and easy movement. He designed the neckline to leave the neck comfortably and added a functional bag designed to hold something. For a higher level of comfort, the skirt has grosgrain that stays on the waist, not the belt. More importantly, meticulous attention is placed on detail during fitting. Measurements are made to the customer in a standing position with arms folded across the shoulders. Chanel did a model test, told them to take a walk, stepped onto the platform as if climbing the imaginary bus ladder, and bowed as if getting into a low sports car. Chanel wants to make sure women can do all these things while wearing their jackets, accidentally showing their body parts they want to cover. Each client will make repeated adjustments until their settings are comfortable enough for them to perform their daily activities with ease and ease.
Camellia
Camellia has an established association used in the literary works of Alexandre Dumas, La Dame aux CamÃÆ'Â © lias (The Lady of the Camellias). The hero and his story have echoed for Chanel since his youth. The flowers are associated with prostitutes, who will use camellias to advertise their availability. Kamelia was identified with The House of Chanel; the first designer used it in 1933 as a decorative element in a trimmed black and white suit.
Little black dress
After the t-shirt suit, the concept of a small black dress is often cited as Chanel's contribution to fashion lexicon; it is a style that is still worn to this day. In 1912-13, actress Suzanne Orlandi was one of the first women to wear a small black dress Chanel, in a velvet with white collar. Chanel himself claimed that in 1920, while observing the audience in the opera, he swore that he would dress all the women in black.
In 1926, the American edition Vogue published a picture of Chanel's small black dress with long sleeves, redirecting it into garÃÆ'§onne (little boy). Vogue predicted that a simple but beautiful design would be a virtual uniform for women's tastes, famously comparing its basic line to Ford cars everywhere and not remotely accessible widely. The look of reserve raises widespread criticism from male journalists, who complain: "no more chest, no more stomachs, no more... feminine modes today in the 20th century will be baptized to get rid of everything." The popularity of a small black dress can be attributed in part to its introductory time. The 1930s was the period of the Great Depression Era, when women needed affordable fashion. Chanel boasted that he has allowed people who are not rich to "walk around like a millionaire". Chanel starts making small black dresses in wool or chenille for the day and in satin, crÃÆ'ªpe or velvet for the night.
Chanel proclaims "I'm black, it's still strong today, to remove black everything around."
Jewelry
Chanel introduced a series of jewelry that is conceptual innovation, because the design and materials combine gemstones that are simulated and fine. It is revolutionary in an era when jewelry is strictly categorized into fine jewelry or costume jewelry. Inspiration is global, often inspired by Eastern and Egyptian design traditions. Rich clients who do not want to display their expensive jewelry in public can wear Chanel creations to impress others.
In 1933, designer Paul Iribe collaborated with Chanel in the manufacture of luxury jewelry ordered by the International Guild of Diamond Merchants. Collections, exclusively executed in diamonds and platinum, are on display for public viewing and attract a large audience; about 3,000 participants recorded in a period of one month.
As an antidote to vrais bijoux en toc , obsessions with expensive and fine jewelry, Chanel transforms costume jewelery into a coveted accessory - especially when worn in large exhibitions, as he does. Originally inspired by the luxurious gems and pearls given to him by aristocratic lovers, Chanel stormed his gem dome and partnered with Duke Fulco in Verdura to launch the House of Chanel jewelry line. A white enamel cuff that features a gem-stitched Maltese cross is Chanel's personal favorite; it has become a collaboration icon Verdura Chanel. The fashionable and rich people love creations and make the line very successful. Chanel issued a PR statement: "It's disgusting to walk around with millions of people around the neck because someone happens to be rich, I just like fake jewelry... because it's provocative."
Perfume
Chanel does not make Chanel N 5, but a perfume comes to him and asks him for his perfume brand. He chose the fifth sample he had, and therefore Chanel N 5 was born. Not wanting to get into the cosmetics industry, it only takes 10 percent of the profit. When Chanel N 5 became an international hit, he pursued perfume to get his fortune back. He posted all his cases in court, the perfume maker finally gave him what he wanted.
Chanel Bag
In 1929, Chanel offered a handbag inspired by an army bag. The thin shoulder straps allow the user to free his hand. After his comeback, Chanel updated the design in February 1955, creating what would be "2.55" (named for the date of manufacture). While classic bag details have been reworked, such as the 1980s renewal by Karl Lagerfeld in which buckles and keys were redesigned to incorporate a crossed Chanel C logo and skin interlaced through a shoulder chain, the bag retained its basic shape. In 2005, the Chanel company released the exact replica of the original 1955 bag to commemorate the 50th anniversary of its creation.
The design of the bag was informed by the days of Chanel monastery and his love of the sport. The chain used for the rope echoes the chatelain worn by the caregiver of the orphanage where Chanel grew up, while the red wine layer refers to the monastic uniform. The layered outer is affected by the jacket worn by the jockey, while at the same time increasing the shape and volume of the bag.
Suntans
In the outdoor grass and marine environments, Chanel takes in the sun, making the brown color not only acceptable, but a symbol that shows the life of privilege and pleasure. Historically, identifiable exposure to the sun has been a sign of workers destined for an unrelenting, unshakable life. "Milk-white skin is a sure sign of aristocracy." In the mid-1920s, women could be seen sitting on the beach without a hat to protect them from the sun. The Chanel effect makes the sun bathing fashionable.
Imagery in popular culture
- Theater
Musical Broadway Coco , with music by AndrÃÆ' Â © Previn, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, opened December 18, 1969 and closed October 3, 1970. It was set in 1953-1954 when Chanel was rebuilding the house couture. Chanel was played by Katharine Hepburn for the first eight months, and by Danielle Darrieux for the rest of her journey.
- Movies
The first film about Chanel is Chanel Solitaire (1981), directed by George Kaczender and starring Marie-France Pisier, Timothy Dalton, and Rutger Hauer.
Coco Chanel (2008) is a television film starring Shirley MacLaine as Chanel 70 years old. Directed by Christian Duguay, the film also stars Barbora Bobu? OvÃÆ'¡ as the young Chanel and Olivier Sitruk as the Capel Boy.
Coco avant Chanel ( Coco Before Chanel ) (2009) is a French-language biographical film starring Audrey Tautou as a young Chanel, with BenoÃÆ'®t Poelvoorde as ÃÆ'â € ° tienne Balsan and Alessandro Nivola as Boy Capel
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Source of the article : Wikipedia
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