About the Author

JUSTINE PICARDIE is the author of five books, including her critically acclaimed memoir If The Spirit Moves You. The former features director of British Vogue, she is currently a fashion columnist for Stella and also writes for several other newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Telegraph, Harpers Bazaar and Red.

She lives in London with her two sons.

Reviews

"Fascinating. . . . Intriguing reading. . . . In researching this book, Justine Picardie has shown as much doggedness in uncovering her subject's life as Chanel did in disguising it." -- Edwina Ings-Chambers, Sunday Times"I thought there was nothing more to say about Coco Chanel, but Picardie's recent book does a great job of depicting a difficult and compelling 20th-century icon." -- Kate Betts, The Week"Gripping. . . . In the deftest prose, Picardie lots one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th Century. The book is lavishly illustrated, too, with images of iconic outfits and intimate photos from Chanel's private albums." -- Mail on Sunday"Picardie reveals a fascinating insight into the woman who created the Little Black Dress and who freed women from the constraint of corsets. . . . By using the archives of the House of Chanel, of course, but also those of the Duke of Westminster and Winston Churchill, Picardie has managed to create a truly three-dimensional portrait of an enormously complex woman." -- Claire Black, The Scotsman"Elegant." -- ARTnews"Captivating. . . . Wonderful photos and illustrations." -- ARTnews"Picardie's biography on Chanel is not only stunningly presented--it features photos, pictures and fashion drawings by Karl Lagerfeld on almost every page--but brilliantly written." -- ARTnews