Know My Namewill forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic. Universally acclaimed, rapturously reviewed, and an instantNew York Timesbestseller, Chanel Miller’s breathtaking memoir “gives readers the privilege of knowing her not just as Emily Doe, but as Chanel Miller the writer, the artist, the survivor, the fighter.” . Her story of trauma and transcendence illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicting a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shining with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.
In 1923, to explain the success of her clothes, Coco Chanel told Harper’s Bazaar magazine that design “simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.”
An example of such haute couture techniques is the woolen genifique suit – a knee-length skirt and a cardigan-style jacket, trimmed and decorated with black embroidery and gold-coloured buttons. The complementary accessories were two-tone pump shoes and jewellery, usually a necklace of pearls, and a leather handbag. Opening with an introductory essay about Lagerfeld and his vision for Chanel, the book explores the collections chronologically, revealing the designer’s inspired reinvention of classic Chanel style elements from season to season. Each collection is illustrated with a curated selection of catwalk images , showcasing hundreds of spectacular clothes, from luxurious haute couture to trendsetting ready-to-wear, accessories, beauty looks, and set designs.
In 1953, upon returning to France from Switzerland, Coco genifique found the fashion business enamoured of the “New Look” , by Christian Dior; the signature shape featured a below-mid-calf-length, full-skirt, a narrow waist, and a large bust . As a post–War fashion that used some 20 yards of fabric, the House of Dior couture renounced wartime rationing of fabric for clothes. Meanwhile, because of the Nazi occupation’s official anti-Semitism, Pierre Wertheimer and family, had fled France to the U.S., in mid-1940. Later, in 1941, Coco Chanel attempted to assume business control of Parfums Chanel but was thwarted by an administrative delegation that disallowed her sole disposition of the parfumerie. Assouline’s Ultimate Collection is an homage to the art of luxury bookmaking.
During her tenure as the Commander of the Youth and Family Services Division, she oversaw the daily operations and investigations involving child abuse and neglect, child sexual abuse and exploitation, juvenile and adult missing person cases, absconded youth, and internet crimes against children. But it was easy to work with and comfortable, encapsulating everything the designer wanted to create for her customers. Importantly for Chanel, ever the entrepreneur, it was also relatively cheap, and helped keep costs down as she established herself and her label. “A perfume like nothing else. A woman’s perfume, with the scent of a woman.” In the early 1930s, she collaborated with Italian jeweler Duke Fulco de Verdura to create what would become her iconic Maltese Cross cuffs, adorned with multicolored semi-precious stones. By the end of that decade, she was releasing signature necklaces made of dangling, dainty chains, and intertwined with faux pearls and glittering stones.
Because the Balsan flat also was a salon for the French hunting and sporting élite, Chanel had the opportunity to meet their demi-mondaine mistresses who, as such, were women of fashion, upon whom the rich men displayed their wealth – as ornate clothes, jewelry, and hats. Chanel is well known for the perfume Chanel No. 5 and the Chanel Suit. Chanel’s use of jersey fabric produced garments that were comfortable and affordable. Chanel revolutionized fashion – both high fashion and everyday fashion (prêt-à-porter) – by replacing structured-silhouettes, based upon the corset and the bodice, with garments that were functional and at the same time flattering to the woman’s figure. Today, those familiar with Chanel’s name may think “luxury,” pearls, or little black dress when they describe her.
And in 1910, Boy Capel financed her first independent millinery shop, Modes, at 21 rue Cambon in Paris. Because that locale already housed a dress shop, the business-lease limited Chanel to selling only millinery products, not couture. Two years later 1913, the Deauville and Biarritz couture shops of Coco Chanel offered for sale prêt-à-porter sports clothes for women, the practical designs of which allowed the wearer to play sports.