A new illustrated biography on the life of French fashion icon Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel was released on August 19, to mark her 133rd birth anniversary.
Released by Chronicle Books, the book — Library of Luminaries: Coco Chanel: An Illustrated Biography — is penned by Zena Alkayat. It includes excerpts from the late designer’s own letters and diaries, along with vivid, pencil-drawn illustrations by Nina Cosford, giving a visual insight into Chanel’s rise to global fame from humble beginnings in a convent orphanage.
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The tome reads like a storybook, covering much of Chanel’s epic trajectory, as well as her dalliances with the Duke of Westminster (better known as “Bendor”), Pablo Picasso, composer Igor Stravinsky, exiled Russian Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, poet Pierre Reverdy and the tragic ending of her affair with her lover Boy Capel.
Library of Luminaries: Coco Chanel: An Illustrated Biography is part of Alkayat and Cosford’s Library of Luminaries series, which also includes past books about Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen, as well as a recent publication on the life of famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
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