Zena Alkayat - Coco Chanel: An Illustrated Biography

First published in the United States in 2016 by Chronicle Books LLC.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by Frances Lincoln Ltd.
Text copyright 2016 by Zena Alkayat.
Illustrations copyright 2016 by Nina Cosford.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-5062-8 (epub2)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6208-9 (epub3)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-6209-6 (mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data available.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-5024-6 (hc)

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

www.chroniclebooks.com

I am not a heroine. But I have chosen
the person I wanted to be.''

Coco Chanel, 1946

GABRIELLE CHANEL WAS BORN ON
AUGUST 19, 1883, IN A CHARITY
HOSPITAL FOR THE POOR IN SAUMUR,
WEST FRANCE. HER FATHER, ALBERT,
WAS A ROVING MARKET TRADER;
HER MOTHER, JEANNE, WAS FROM
A WORKING-CLASS FAMILY.

ABANDONED BY THE FAST-LIVING
ALBERT WHILE PREGNANT WITH
GABRIELLE'S OLDER SISTER, JEANNE
SPENT HER LIFE CHASING AFTER HIM
AS HE HOPPED BETWEEN MARKET
TOWNS ACROSS FRANCE.

SOCIALLY EMBARRASSED, JEANNE'S
FAMILY COMPELLED ALBERT
TO MARRY HER IN 1884. HE
RELUCTANTLY AGREED, BUT THE
BOND OF MARRIAGE DID LITTLE
TO KEEP HIM BY HER SIDE.

GABRIELLE AND HER SIBLINGS WERE
ACCUSTOMED TO HARD WORK, BAD
LIVING CONDITIONS, AND A BROKEN
FAMILY LIFE, BUT THINGS BECAME
WORSE WHEN THEIR MOTHER DIED OF
BRONCHITIS AT THIRTY-ONE.
GABRIELLE WAS ELEVEN.

DESERTED BY THEIR FLY-BY-NIGHT
FATHER AND UNWELCOMED BY THEIR
MOTHER'S FAMILY, THE CHILDREN
WERE LEFT ORPHANED.

GABRIELLE'S YOUNG BROTHERS WERE
GIVEN TO A PEASANT FAMILY TO
PROVIDE FARM LABOR IN RETURN
FOR BASIC KEEP.

GABRIELLE AND HER TWO SISTERS
WERE SENT TO A CONVENT ORPHANAGE
IN THE RURAL VILLAGE OF AUBAZINE.
SHE NEVER SAW HER FATHER AGAIN.

GABRIELLE FOLLOWED STRICT
RELIGIOUS DUTY, TOOK BASIC
STUDIES, AND LEARNED NEEDLEWORK.

LATER AS AN ADULT SHE WOULD
BEND THE TRUTH AND DESCRIBE
A MISERABLE TIME SPENT IN
THE CARE OF WICKED AUNTS''
IN WHICH LOVE WAS A LUXURY
AND CHILDHOOD A SIN.''

GABRIELLE WOULD LOSE HERSELF
IN ROMANTIC STORIES TORN FROM
THE PAGES OF NEWSPAPERS.

ON TURNING EIGHTEEN, GABRIELLE WAS
FINALLY FREE TO LEAVE AUBAZINE,
TRANSFERRING TO ANOTHER CONVENT
IN THE GARRISON TOWN OF MOULINS
IN CENTRAL FRANCE.

HER AUNT ADRIENNE CHANEL WAS
A FELLOW CHARITY PUPIL THERE.
WITH JUST TWO YEARS BETWEEN
THEM, SHE AND GABRIELLE BECAME
AS TIGHT AS SISTERS.

AFTER A YEAR AT THE CONVENT,
GABRIELLE AND ADRIENNE TOOK JOBS
AND LODGINGS IN A DRAPERY.

THEY SUPPLEMENTED THEIR MEAGER
WAGE WITH WEEKEND JOBS AT A
TAILOR'S SHOP FREQUENTED BY
LOCAL ARMY OFFICERS.

AS A SEAMSTRESS, GABRIELLE CAME
INTO CONTACT WITH MOULINS
MILITARY MEN WHO WERE LARGELY
DRAWN FROM FRANCE'S LANDED
GENTRY AND PARISIAN ARISTOCRACY.

DELIGHTING THE OFFICERS WITH
THEIR VIVACIOUS PERSONALITIES,
GABRIELLE AND ADRIENNE WERE OFTEN
ESCORTED TO CAF E -CONCERTS.

THESE SHOWS WERE PART OF
A GROWING TREND FOR BAWDY
ENTERTAINMENT, WHICH FIRST
APPEARED IN BELLE E POQUE PARIS.

GABRIELLE WAS DRAWN TO THE
STAGE AND BECAME A POSEUSE --- A GIRL
WHO WOULD FILL THE GAPS BETWEEN
BILLED ACTS.

SHE WOULD SING REVUE STANDARDS
KO KO RI KO'' AND QUI QU'A VU
COCO?'' ACCORDING TO LEGEND, THE
NAME COCO'' STUCK.

COCO BECAME INVOLVED WITH ONE
OF THE CAVALRY MEN. E TIENNE
BALSAN WAS A WEALTHY BACHELOR
WITH A TALENT FOR BREEDING AND
TRAINING HORSES.

HIS DISTINGUISHED FAMILY DESPAIRED
OF HIS LIBERTINE LIFESTYLE AND OPEN
DISREGARD FOR SOCIAL CONVENTION.

IN SEARCH OF FAME AND FORTUNE,
COCO LEFT MOULINS FOR NEARBY
SPA TOWN VICHY. DESPITE SINGING
LESSONS, INVESTING IN FANCY
FROCKS, AND TRYING TO IMPRESS
NUMEROUS STAGE MANAGERS, HER
DETERMINATION CAME TO NOTHING.

COCO WAS ALONE AND WITHOUT
AN INCOME. IN 1905, SHE TRAVELED
NORTH TO OISE TO BECOME E TIENNE'S
LIVE-IN MISTRESS AT HIS NEW HOME,
CH A TEAU DE ROYALLIEU.