Chanel was the mistress of some of the most influential men of her time, but she never married. She had significant relationships with the poet Pierre Reverdy and the illustrator and designer Paul Iribe. After her romance with Reverdy ended in 1926, they maintained a friendship that lasted some forty years. [8] :23 It is postulated that the legendary maxims attributed to Chanel and published in periodicals were crafted under the mentorship of Reverdy—a collaborative effort.

Sci-Fi Chanel". The Fashionide. 24 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013 . Retrieved 22 August 2014. She eventually managed to leave when, together with her sister Coco, she was sent to a religious boarding school in Moulins. Here, the two met Gabrielle, their young aunt. Coco and Gabrielle soon decided to perform as singers at shows in the area. a b c d e f Font, Lourdes (2 July 2009), "Chanel, Coco", Oxford Art Online, Oxford University Press, doi: 10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t2081197, ISBN 9781884446054Friedman, Vanessa (15 April 2017). "Maureen Chiquet's Move From Chanel to Self-Empowerment". The New York Times . Retrieved 28 October 2018.

In The Chanel Sisters we get an inside look at the life of Chanel and her sisters told by Antoinette or ‘Ninette’ as Chanel called her. Throughout her life, Chanel attempted to keep so much of the truth about her upbringing from the public, so I enjoyed the opportunity to get an inside look at her life from her sisters point of view. a b Hirst, Gwendoline (22 February 2001). "Chanel 1883–1971". BA Education. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008 . Retrieved 10 April 2014. In 1923, Vera Bate Lombardi, (born Sarah Gertrude Arkwright), reputedly the illegitimate daughter of the Marquess of Cambridge, offered Chanel entry into the highest levels of British aristocracy. It was an elite group of associations revolving around such figures as politician Winston Churchill, aristocrats such as the Duke of Westminster and royals such as Edward, Prince of Wales. In Monte Carlo in 1923, at age forty, Chanel was introduced by Lombardi to the vastly wealthy Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, known to his intimates as "Bendor". The duke lavished Chanel with extravagant jewels, costly art and a home in London's prestigious Mayfair district. His affair with Chanel lasted ten years. [8] :36–37 Fine Jewellery & High Jewellery – CHANEL". chanel.com. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. The writer Colette, who moved in the same social circles as Chanel, provided a whimsical description of Chanel at work in her atelier, which appeared in Prisons et Paradis (1932):Picardie, Justine (9 September 2023). "Gabrielle Chanel: Everything you never knew about the legendary designer". Harper's Bazaar. Archived from the original on 11 September 2023 . Retrieved 11 September 2023. Fashion Police: Thai expert on how to spot fake designer bags | Coconuts Bangkok". Coconuts. 18 August 2020 . Retrieved 11 April 2021. Without a doubt, Boy Capel was the one true love of her life. The novel features both real-life characters like Antoinette, Chanel, Adrienne and Boy Capel but also entirely fictional characters like Arturo and Lucho. Among the fictional characters whose storyline did you enjoy writing the most?

I have an indisputable right of priority... the profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business... are disproportionate... [and] you can help to repair in part the prejudices I have suffered in the course of these seventeen years. [24] :152–53 Horton, Ros; Simmons, Sally (2007). Women Who Changed the World. Quercus. p.103. ISBN 978-1847240262 . Retrieved 8 March 2011. Later in life, Chanel would retell the story of her childhood somewhat differently; she would often include more glamorous accounts, which were generally untrue. [10] She said that when her mother died, her father sailed for America to seek his fortune, and she was sent to live with two aunts. She also claimed to have been born a decade later than 1883 and that her mother had died when she was much younger than 11. [15] [16] Personal life and early career [ edit ] Aspirations for a stage career [ edit ] Lisa Chaney (6 October 2011). Chanel: An Intimate Life. Penguin Books Limited. pp.345–. ISBN 978-0-14-197299-2. High Jewellery - All the pieces from CHANEL High Jewellery". Archived from the original on 10 January 2013 . Retrieved 24 December 2012.Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 to Eugénie Jeanne Devolle Chanel, known as Jeanne, a laundrywoman, in the charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence (a poorhouse) in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire. [9] :14 [10] She was Jeanne's second child with Albert Chanel; the first, Julia, had been born less than a year earlier. [10] Albert Chanel was an itinerant street vendor who peddled work clothes and undergarments, [11] :27 living a nomadic life, traveling to and from market towns. The family resided in run-down lodgings. In 1884, he married Jeanne Devolle, persuaded to legitimate his children by her family who had "united, effectively, to pay Albert". [9] :16