The Real Story Behind Coco Chanel And Christian Dior's Rivalry And WWII Involvement
If you know anything about fashion — and even if you don’t — you’ve probably heard of Coco Chanel and Chrisian Dior. They are best known for their enduring brand names and an epic rivalry that overshadowed their complicated personal lives. Despite their differences though, during WWII both fashionistas found themselves embroiled in a fight to bring their family members home from the Nazis.
Murky waters
You may have seen The New Look, a TV series on Apple TV+ focusing on Chanel and Dior’s involvement in World War II. Whether you agree or disagree with the show’s interpretations of those famous fashion giants, there’s no denying it raises some questions.
And it’s not surprising, considering how murky the waters are when it comes to Chanel’s and Dior’s allegiances in the war. Still, one thing is for sure: both designers had their families threatened by the Nazi army.
A meteoric rise
But how did fashion designers get involved with the war? Well, besides how WWII affected virtually everyone at the time, both designers were massively influential. Their rise to power was nothing short of meteoric.
Let’s start with Gabrielle — or as she would later be known, Coco — Chanel, portrayed in The New Look by Juliette Binoche. The origin of the name, much like much of her life, is shrouded in mystery, but one theory is that it comes from songs she performed as a cafe singer.
Social networking
Chanel was also a prolific socialite, which helped her build a business from the ground up. Her relationships with famously rich partners such as Arthur “Boy” Capel helped fund her ventures, which included first a small hat business in Paris, and then a sportswear boutique.
Chanel’s new applications for established fashions, such as her success reintroducing the Little Black Dress, or LBD, as a fashion item— at a time when black was a color widely associated only with mourning— assured her future. But it was a famous fragrance that really set her career rolling.
The smell of success
If you guessed the now-household name Chanel No.5, you’d be right on the money. Until Chanel, no fashion designer had ever introduced a fragrance, but all that changed in 1921.
Chanel enlisted the help of successful perfumer Ernest Beaux to mix the popular scent, and partnered with several businessmen — including department store owner Théophile Bader and cosmetic specialists the Wertheimer brothers — for its sale and distribution.