Picardie emphasized that Coco Chanel had a traumatic childhood and did not meet her father who abandoned her. However, according to Picardie, this situation helped the famous designer take her fate into her own hands. Stating that the designer was influenced by the black and white colors of the nuns in the monastery where she stayed as a child, Picardie attributed Chanel’s mostly monochrome creations to this.
Picardie said that Chanel’s very popular little black dress emerged during the period of mourning and sadness she experienced after the death of Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel, the first great love of her life, at the end of 1919. The famous designer is one of the designers who can reach not only her own emotions, but also our emotions. He stated that it was.
Picardie said, “Struggling to stand strong in the face of love and loss is a universal experience. “I think it is this emotional richness that makes their designs, and also their perfumes, so famous, impressive, powerful and effective,” he said.
The world’s favorite famous perfume
Chanel meant much more than just being a fashion designer. Her character and being a shrewd and enterprising businesswoman were among the factors that further increased her appeal. Chanel opened her first boutique in Rue Cambon in Paris in 1910, and immediately afterwards began to open boutiques in the famous and “elite” holiday resorts of the period, such as Deauville and Biarritz.
The success of these initiatives was followed by periodic creations. The idea of growing and establishing a giant business never left the mind of the successful fashion designer. When the calendar showed the year 1921, it appeared before fashion lovers with something that no fashion house had done before. He launched the No:5 perfume, which would later become the “world’s best-selling fragrance”.
Chanel’s influence was growing day by day. Marilyn Monroe, the iconic figure of the 1950s, was asked by journalists “What do you wear to bed?” The answer to the question “Chanel No: 5” revealed the influence of the brand.
Perfumes, make-up and skin care products, which are of no small importance in the recognition of the Chanel brand, are included in the “Invisible Accessories” section of the exhibition. Advertising campaigns reflecting the brand’s vision are also part of the exhibition. Many elements, from the stylish suit worn by actor Jeanne Moreau at the Cannes Film Festival in the 1960s to the Chanel colors that marked the period, also appear in the exhibition.
Nazi collaborator or a French resistance fighter?
The most controversial issue about Chanel, her relationship with the Nazis, is also brought up for discussion in the exhibition in the context of her creations of the 1940s.
The Second World War was not kind to Chanel, who stayed in Paris and continued her work during the First World War. One of the issues that have been discussed for many years about Chanel’s life was her relationship with German embassy officer Hans Günther von Dincklage and SS-Major General Walter Friedrich Schellenberg. Because of this relationship, Nazi authorities listed Chanel as a reliable source in July 1941.
However, documents recently revealed and included in the exhibition showed that Chanel was a spy who carried information to the French Resistance in 1943.
Picardie said about the incident, which he also included in his “Coco Chanel” biography, “There are many legends about Chanel. “I never saw him as a Nazi supporter, so when this document came out showing that he was actually a member of the French Resistance, it was the final piece of the puzzle for me,” he said.
“Most of the time, people only look at the surface of fashion,” Picardie said, adding that the true meaning of beauty cannot be realized without discovering the depths of fashion, and added: “The life story of a fashion designer like Chanel is never limited to her designs.”
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