Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto

"While many books have been written about Gabrielle Chanel’s style and complicated personal history (especially recent examinations of her actions during World War II), this book accompanies the first ever retrospective of the couturiere’s work in Paris. Dazzling photographs of Chanel’s archives allow a peek at dresses that would look chic and modern today but date back to the 1920s – a midnight-blue crepe georgette evening dress with silk fringing dyed in graduating shades of blue, or a monochromatic drop-waist silvery silk crepe number. To see the silhouettes and materials up close is to see the evidence of Chanel’s mastery as both a modernist and a couturier. Essays add depth and context to the book, and fashion lovers who can’t make it to Paris may find it to be a great escape."