While containing some interesting facts, Daniele Bott’s prose annoyed me in the way it fawns over Mademoiselle and her fashion house. I speculated whether access to the Chanel collections had been given to Bott on the condition that she meet a certain quota of superlatives and gushing sentences. Chanel's combination of tradition, originality and style has always made it the most seductive of brands. Here the House of Chanel opens its private archives, revealing a galaxy of brilliant designs created by Coco Chanel from the 1920s onwards, and now reinterpreted to become the motifs for brand new garments, accessories and beauty products. Dazzling clothes, intricate accessories, beautiful models and timeless design leave no doubt as to the lasting fame of the brand and embody everything that has come to symbolize the magic of Chanel. Explore what pop culture got wrong about French fashion designer Coco Chanel in movies about her life and career. (more) See all videos for this article Ms. Bott has put together an inspiring collection of photographs and essays, dividing the work of Chanel (both the woman and the house) in to five major categories:

No two camellias are alike, not a single collection uses last season’s creations. Sometimes, 15 centimetres of fabric measuring 90 to 130 centimetres in width is enough to make three or four camellias – what precision, what sophistication and elegance in the cutting, the mounting, the finishing!" Chanel was born into poverty in the French countryside; her mother died, and her father abandoned her to an orphanage. After a brief stint as a shopgirl, Chanel worked for a few years as a café singer. She later became associated with a few wealthy men and in 1913, with financial assistance from one of them, Arthur (“Boy”) Capel, opened a tiny millinery shop in Deauville, France, where she also sold simple sportswear, such as jersey sweaters. Within five years her original use of jersey fabric to create a “poor girl” look had attracted the attention of influential wealthy women seeking relief from the prevalent corseted styles. Faithful to her maxim that “luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury,” Chanel’s designs stressed simplicity and comfort and revolutionized the fashion industry. By the late 1920s the Chanel industries were reportedly worth millions and employed more than 2,000 people, not only in her couture house but also in a perfume laboratory, a textile mill, and a jewelry workshop. Now imagine the cumulative effect of a book where every sentence is like that and maybe you’ll understand my exasperation. It includes many previously unpublished archive photographs and original drawings by Karl Lagerfeld, as well as glorious images from some of the greatest names in fashion photography. 139 illustrations, 83 in color. Style Number: