Acknowledgments

Of the many people who have helped me with this book, I owe the first debt of gratitude to my agent, Clare Alexander, whose idea it was. My initial doubts were soon transformed into an obsession. And, while Clare failed to curb this, she has my heartfelt thanks for her unfailing encouragement and professionalism. These were given with habitual good grace during the writing of this most difficult of lives.

Marie Louise de Clermont-Tonnerre, director of external relations at Chanel, kindly gave her support to the writing of the book, making my research at the Chanel Conservatoire possible.

The prime source for Gabrielle Chanel is Paul Morand’s L’Allure de Chanel (copyright © Editions Hermann), and I am most grateful to Arthur Cohen, at Editions Hermann, who so readily gave me permission to quote freely from Gabrielle’s extraordinary memoir. Edmonde Charles Roux was Gabrielle’s first and supposedly exhaustive biographer, but no one can now think of writing anything on her without Morand’s book, published two years after Charles Roux’s.

An apparently endless stream of writing on Gabrielle has appeared since these publications. Pierre Galante’s Mademoiselle Chanel, Marcel Haedrich’s Coco Chanel and Claude Delay’s Chanel Solitaire (particularly insightful with regard to Gabrielle’s inner life) are all notable for their perception and sensitivity. These authors were all Gabrielle’s friends, and I have drawn heavily on their work. Lilou Marquand’s insightful Chanel m’a dit has been helpful.

Mary Davis’s Classic Chic: Music Fashion and Modernism; Valerie Steele’s Paris Fashion: A Cultural History; the contributors to Modern Woman Revisited; Judith Thurman’s magnificent biography of Colette, Secrets of the Flesh; Francis Steegmuller’s indispensable Cocteau; and Eugen Weber’s magisterial Peasants into Frenchmen were of great help in the development of my ideas.

I am much indebted to those below, who kindly gave me interviews and whose knowledge, memories and thoughts have informed this book.

Marika Genty, director of the Chanel Conservatoire, courteously dispensed her encyclopaedic knowledge of Gabrielle the couturier and also contributed her thoughtful and perceptive observations on Gabrielle the person. Jacques Polge, Director of Parfums Chanel, was immensely gracious, and I thank him for a fascinating and thought-provoking conversation about perfume and the mysteries of Chanel № 5. This was aided by Christopher Sheldrake, director of research and development. Patrick Doucet at the Chanel and Bourjois Perfume Conservatoire showed me the earliest Chanel cosmetics and № 5 bottles and ably described № 5’s possible chronology. Julie Dey-dier, of the Chanel Conservatoire, helped me look through the remarkable collection of Gabrielle’s designs, stored away on the outskirts of Paris; Odile Babin was always helpful; and Cecile Goddet-Dirles familiarized me with the large Chanel image database.

Claude Delay generously expanded on her memoir of Gabrielle, Chanel Solitaire, for me; Lady Sybille Derwent (previously of French Vogue) emphasized the unconcerned French attitude toward Gabrielle’s sexual penchants. Lady Derwent also recommended me to Susan Train, of American Vogue, who described Gabrielle’s 1954 comeback with great immediacy; in Ireland, Michel Déon collected me from Galway airport with his large hound and, while we ate shellfish by the sea, talked inspiringly about Gabrielle.

Madame Gabrielle Labrunie was most kind in sharing her memories of her great-aunt Gabrielle; Amanda Mackenzie Stuart’s help was critical. Suggesting Francine du Plessix Gray’s memoir, Them, Amanda also gave me much information on the Balsan family, and introduced me to William Lee. To William, my debt is considerable; for his painstaking translations of Dmitri Pavlovich’s diaries and for helping me to understand better this poignant man. Dmitri’s grandson, Prince David Chavchavadze, has my warm thanks for allowing the first publication of Dmitri’s diary excerpts regarding his relationship with Gabrielle.

Etienne Balsan’s grandson and great-nephew, Antoine Balsan and Philippe Gontier, respectively, told me about their delightful forebear, and have kindly permitted me to reproduce one of the few photographs of him still in their possession. Olivia de Havilland kindly wrote to me about what she knew; the Honorable Harry Fane’s timely contribution is much appreciated; Philip Norcross Gross provided the most up-to-date information on Antoinette Chanel; and Lilou Marquand’s astute observations to me were instructive.

I am very grateful to Comte Jean d’Harcourt for his memories, which were an informative and unsettling addition to the puzzle of Gabrielle’s wartime activities, and to Hubert de Givenchy, who mourned Gabrielle’s shabby treatment of their long-standing mutual friend Cristóbal Balenciaga, who yet brought himself to attend her funeral. On more than one occasion Danniel Rangel was the perfect ambassador on my behalf; Willy Rizzo’s reminiscences of his friendship with Gabrielle are reflected in the quality of observation and sympathy evident in his photographs of her, some of the best that anyone made. Jean-Noël Liaut’s recommendations, anecdotes and vignettes were valuable, and amusing.

My thanks to Father Tom McCoog, who directed me to Bernardo Caparrini’s crucial scholarship, and to Bernardo in turn, who recommended me to the archivist at Stonyhurst, David Knight. David was most assiduous on my behalf, ferreting out school logs and photos of Arthur Capel, and thus I was set on Arthur’s trail. This led to Arthur’s son-in-law, Sir Jeremy Hutchinson, whom I warmly thank for his memories of Diana Capel née Lister, and his insistence on introducing me to his stepson and Arthur’s grandson, Christopher Osborn. Christopher was extremely generous in lending me Arthur’s letters; allowing me to publish them here for the first time; discussing Arthur, Gabrielle and Diana’s dimly remembered story; and assisting me in sensitive negotiations.

The staff of the London Library were, as always, unfailingly helpful. I thank Lisa Dowdswell at the Society of Authors for her clear-headed advice; Lynsey Robertson at the Churchill Center Archives; Kerry Bennet at the Scottish Civic Trust; the Association Sainte-Agnès, France; Chantal Bittan, directrice générale, Polo de Paris; Christine Lauener, collaboratrice scienti-fique, Département Fédéral de l’Intérieur (DFI), Archives Fédérales Suisses (AFS); Christine de Metz, Municipal Archives, Mairie de Garches; Monique Beaufils, Municipal Archives, Mairie de Biarritz; Laura Potter at V&A Publications; and John Gray at Dancing Times.

I should like to thank the following for permission to quote excerpts from the cited works: Lady Polly Feversham, for Extracts from the Diaries of Viscountess d’Abernon; the Honorable Laura Ponsonby for Lady Dorothy Ponsonby’s unpublished diary; the Chanel Conservatoire for the Pierre Reverdy dedication (in Rousselot and Manol) in their collection; and François Capon at the Maeght Foundation for the same; Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres, for the excerpts from Salvador Dalí’s letters to Gabrielle; Christopher Osborn for Diana Capel’s letters in the Churchill Archives Center, and Arthur Capel’s letters to Diana; Pan Macmillan and Alfred A. Knopf for Misia, copyright © Gold and Fizdale, 1980; Random House and M. Gabriel Jardin (English language copyright) for Lewis et Irène, originally Editions Grasset, 1924; for Marcel Haedrich’s Coco Chanel, Editions Robert Lafont, copyright © 1971, English language translation copyright Little, Brown and Company, 1972; Editions Jean-Claude Lattès for Lilou Marquand’s Chanel m’a dit, copyright © 1990; Mercure de France, for Pierre Galante’s Mademoiselle Chanel, copyright © 1973. Every effort has been made to discover copyright holders. I will gladly make good in future editions any omissions brought to my attention.

In the early stages Clement Bosque was my able assistant. He was followed by Adelia Sabatini, whose ability to carry out research of all kinds, act as ambassador and fulfill numerous other tasks with intelligence, independence and good humor — including several discerning readings of the manuscript — have made working with her a great pleasure. I thank her for her tremendous contribution.

To my editor at Fig Tree, Juliet Annan, who commissioned the book, I am deeply grateful, both for her assured and reassuring editorial guidance and her great tact and forbearance. I also thank Jenny Lord for her helpful editorial contribution, and Sophie Missing for picture collecting. I thank my first U.S. editor, Alessandra Lusardi, who maintained her enthusiasm for the project. To Joy de Menil, who took over after Alessandra’s departure and has seen the book through to press, I am most thankful. Her final pruning was done with a deftness and graciousness that left the author grateful and the book undoubtedly improved.

My daughter Jessica brought her lucid and professional visual skills to bear as she expertly shepherded me through the difficult process of selecting pictures. She and her sister, Olivia, were also, as always, unfailingly wise and humorous advisers. My brother, Saul, was his characteristically hospitable self in France, as was Sira in London. While conversations with my father, Keith, were often critical, he also waded through a very long pre-edited manuscript. My other valiant readers were my sister Anna; my daughter Jessica; sister-in-law Vanessa; and friends Josephine Baker and Professor Jane Moody. Cheng Hao Zhou often kept me going. I owe them all a great deal for their thoughtful and astute observations, deletion of various howlers and sensitive recommendations. Jane’s authoritative and judicious suggestions for trimming made the book more transparent. My exemplary copy editor, Sarah Day, skillfully urged me on, spotted errors and suggested improvements, and I am very grateful. Meanwhile, any remaining flaws and errors are my responsibility.

This book took considerably longer than anticipated, and in the process I have neglected friends and family appallingly. Nevertheless, they continued to provide me with their support and good counsel, without which I could not have finished. They have my loving thanks. To Marcus I owe more than I can say.

NOTES

EPIGRAPH

1 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 143.

PROLOGUE: You’re Proud, You’ll Suffer

1 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 40.

2 Ibid., p. 34.

3 Ibid., p. 41.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid., pp. 20–21.

6 Ibid., p. 56.

7 Ibid., p. 42.

CHAPTER 1: Forebears

1 Jean Cocteau, Past Tense, vol. I, p. 50.

2 Eugen Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen, p. 410.

CHAPTER 2: The Bad One

1 Henry Gidel, Coco Chanel, pp. 21–25.

2 Ibid., p. 30.

CHAPTER 3: The Lost Years

1 Lilou Marquand, Chanel m’a dit, p. 45.

2 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 22.

3 Ibid., both references p. 22.

4 Ibid., p. 23.

5 Ibid.

6 Marquand, p. 61.

7 Morand, Allure, p. 30.

8 Ibid., p. 24.

9 Eugen Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen, p. 325.

10 Ibid., pp. 326, 455.

11 Ibid., p. 313.

12 Ibid.

13 Morand, Allure, p. 19.

14 Ibid., p. 20.

15 Ibid., p. 19.

CHAPTER 4: Things That I Should Be and Which I Am Not

1 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 27.

2 Ibid., p. 28.

3 Charles Roux, Chanel, p. 79.

4 Morand, Allure, p. 29.

5 Charles Roux, p. 84.

6 Morand, Allure, p. 31.

7 Pierre Galante, Mademoiselle Chanel, p. 60.

8 Judith Thurman, Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette, p. 111. This superlative biography of Colette was a fascinating comparison in my gradual understanding of Gabrielle.

9 Hickman, p. 12.

10 Liane de Pougy, My Blue Notebooks, p. 51.

11 Galante, p. 54.

CHAPTER 5: A Rich Man’s Game

1 Paul Morand, Venices, p. 42.

2 Judith Thurman, Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette, p. 113.

3 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 52.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid., p. 146.

6 Ibid., p 31.

7 Shari Benstock, Women of the Left Bank, p. 46.

8 Ibid., pp. 54, 228.

9 Thurman, p. 165.

10 Valerie Steele, Paris Fashion, p. 164

11 Pierre Galante, Mademoiselle Chanel, p. 22.

12 Morand, Allure, p. 56.

13 Steele, Paris Fashion, p. 172.

14 Ibid., p. 170.

15 Ibid., p. 173, and Amy de la Haye, Chanel: The Couturière at Work, p. 9.

16 Galante, p. 63.

17 Ibid.

18 Morand, Allure, p. 39.

CHAPTER 6: Captive Mistress

1 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 32.

2 Ibid., p. 23, and Marcel Haedrich, Coco Chanel, p. 79.

3 Katie Hickman, Courtesans, p. 6. Hickman was most instructive in my understanding of the courtesan’s attitudes and milieu.

4 Morand, Allure, p. 33.

5 Charles Roux, Chanel, p. 115, and Axel Madsen, Chanel: A Woman of Her Own, p. 55.

6 Isabelle Fiemeyer, Coco Chanel: Un parfum de mystère, pp. 37, 53.

7 Lilou Marquand, Chanel m’a dit, p. 65.

8 Morand, Allure, p. 33.

9 Marquand, p. 56.

10 Morand, Allure, p. 33.

11 Marquand interview with author, January 2010.

12 Fiemeyer, p. 50.

13 Lourdes Font, Fashion Theory, p. 305.

14 Morand, Lewis et Irène, p. 23.

15 Ibid., p. 87.

16 Ibid., p. 108.

17 Morand, Allure, pp. 34, 53.

18 Morand, Lewis et Irène, p. 120.

19 Morand, Allure, p. 34.

20 Ibid., pp. 33, 39.

21 Ibid., p. 34.

22 Morand, Lewis et Irène, p. 307.

23 Morand, Allure, p. 34.

24 Morand, Lewis et Irène, p. 306.

25 Morand, Allure, p. 32.

26 Henry Gidel, Coco Chanel, p. 53.

27 Ronald Courtenay Bodley, Indiscretions of a Young Man, p. 122.

28 Morand, Lewis et Irène, p. 307.

29 Morand, Allure, p. 36.

30 Ibid.

31 Ibid., p. 34.

CHAPTER 7: Arthur Capel

1 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 20.

2 Ibid., p. 34.

3 Arthur’s and his father Arthur Joseph’s birth certificates as well as the Census records revealed Arthur’s antecedents and their subsequent betterment.

4 Arthur Edward Capel was born at Bedford House, Marine Parade, Brighton.

5 Arthur Joseph Capel (from the London post office directory, between 1875 and 1884, one sees Arthur’s father’s rise to prominence as an entrepreneur). In 1874, he was a businessman and agent for travelers to Paris, and by 1880 he had become a major agent for train and shipping companies in Ireland, England, France and Spain. In 1884, he was a founder of a compressed air company licensed to lay pipes through the streets (Bulletin of Warwickshire Industrial Archeology Society, issue 5, summer 1995). This must have been a very lucrative venture.

6 Joseph’s diverse business interests now required distant travel. In December 1884, he was at a coming-out ball for debutantes at Delmonico’s, the most distinguished public dining rooms in New York (The New York Times). By 1885, it appears he no longer needed to work.

7 Philip Sydney, Modern Rome in Modern England, pp. 114–15.

8 I am indebted to Father Tom McCoog, archivist at the British Province of the Society of Jesus, Mount Street, London, who pointed out the unlikelihood of Arthur’s attendance at Downside and suggested Stonyhurst as his school, and also passed me on to Bernardo Caparrini, who has worked on the history of Beaumont College. Bernardo recommended me to David Knight, archivist at Stonyhurst College, who was assiduous on my behalf in discovering Stonyhurst’s record of Arthur (including a photo of him with fellow Gentlemen Philosophers). In the Stonyhurst log, in Arthur’s own hand, he details his place of birth and schooling. The information at Stonyhurst was invaluable in my search for this most elusive man.

9 From Bernardo Caparrini, I had these crucial references for Arthur’s movements: The Beaumont Lists for Fifty Years, 1861–1911; Supplement to The Beaumont Review Old Windsor; The Beaumont Review Office, 1911, p. 17; The Beaumont Lists, 1861–1961; The Beaumont Review, no. 207, October. 1963, p. 470. Bernardo also referred to “a manuscript document at the Mount Street archives (box PE/2) titled “Lists from 1887–1909 (with follow-up notes)”… in which it says (folio 190)… “Capel, Arthur Edward (entered Oct. 14, 1891; left Aug., 1897) b. Brighton 1881, was at a school in Paris. Went to San Sebastian in Spain. Was a Philosopher at Stonyhurst, where he carried off the Keating Prize…” (The “Keating Prize” was for the best essay on Christian Sociology.)

10 H. J. A. Sire, Gentlemen Philosophers, p. 5. Sire, suggested by Bernardo Caparrini, details life at Stonyhurst College for the Gentlemen Philosophers.

11 The New York Times, June 12, 1902.

12 Arthur Capel noted at a polo match at Deauville. Le Gaulois, August 16, 1909.

13 Paul Morand, Lewis et Irène, p. 61.

14 Following polo at Deauville, Arthur is noted by Le Gaulois arriving at Dieppe on his yacht and then spotted the next day at the casino. Throughout the 1910s, he is regularly referred to in Le Figaro, The New York Times, et cetera.

15 Letter from Arthur Capel to Diana Wyndham: “I hate the main road & the crowd. The world I know is of my own making, the other makes me sick. Their morals, their convictions, their ambitions mean nothing to me. Fancy, sympathy & illusion have ever been my bed mates & I would never change them for Consideration, Position or Power.” Capel correspondence, courtesy of Christopher Osborn. This letter is undated, as are all those from Arthur.

16 Valerie Steele, Paris Fashion, pp. 71–72. I based my argument here on Ms. Steele’s description of the grisettes in this thought-provoking book.

17 Ibid., p. 71.

18 Ibid.

19 Charles Roux, Chanel, p. 113.

20 Elisabeth de Clermont-Tonnerre née de Gramont, Mémoires, vol. IV, La treizième heure, p. 154.

CHAPTER 8: Refashioning Paris

1 Vanessa Schwartz, Spectacular Realities, p. 229. Ms. Schwartz informed my descriptions of the development of mass culture in Paris.

2 Colin Jones, Paris: Biography of a City, p. 410. I am indebted, for this section, to this excellent work on Paris.

3 Ibid., p. 365.

4 Ibid., p. 386.

5 Schwartz, p. 92.

6 Paul Morand, The Allure of Chanel, p. 37.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Arthur Capel, What Will Tomorrow Be Made Of?, p. 77.

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