This is the long-awaited second edition of Justine Picardie’s acclaimed illustrated biography of Coco Chanel (1883–1971), one of the twentieth century’s most captivating personalities and a defining figure in fashion history. Whoever attempts to understand Chanel’s life is confronted by countless myths, half-truths and rumors. In this book Picardie discovers the woman behind the legend, and tells Chanel’s story with a flair and clarity of which Coco herself would approve. Chanel – Her Life explores every facet of Chanel’s universe: her fascinating private life as well as the famous icons of her fashion empire—the tweed jacket, the little black dress, N° 5 perfume, the pearls, the camellia …

The result is a comprehensive biography that reveals Chanel’s style to be the outcome of rigorous elegance, resolute self-belief and a determinedly unconventional stance. Picardie was granted access to Chanel’s archives and is the first author to have examined previously undiscovered private archives in the United Kingdom and France; and this unique knowledge underpins Chanel – Her Life. The book, designed and with drawings by Karl Lagerfeld, and with a new foreword by Picardie celebrating Lagerfeld’s extraordinary time at the House of Chanel, is the definitive biography of the tantalizingly elusive Coco Chanel.