Living with Coco Chanel

Living with Coco Chanel explores the influence of place on the creative output of the famous fashion designer and business woman, telling the story of her life and work in a unique and accessible way. Gabrielle Chanel was born in Maine-et-Loire and when her mother died was sent to live at the orphanage at Aubazine, where she learned to sew. Chanel kept the secrets of her childhood close to her. She only offered hints about the poverty and abandonment she suffered, of the cloisters and chestnut trees of the Auvergne landscape that formed a backdrop to her early life. The book follows the story of Chanel's years in Paris, opening her boutique on Rue Cambon, with her apartment above the shop, and her relationships with ‘Boy’ Capel, Pierre Reverdy and Paul Iribe. Another significant relationship was with the Duke of Westminster, who gave her some land in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the French Riviera, where she built her villa, La Pausa, with parts of the design inspired by Aubazine. All her life she sought freedom from the poverty and restrictions of her childhood at the convent at Aubazine. Emerging at a time that allowed for women to be more independent, she designed clothes that let them be free, as they played sports, drove cars and rode bicycles, and went to work. And as she found fame and love and success, she used the memories of her past, and the way that she lived, to forge her own independence. Beautifully illustrated, the book features designs, drawings, archive imagery and contemporary photography to provide an insight into Chanel’s life and examines how the homes and landscapes of her life relate to her work.