The Dark Side of Coco Chanel

What secrets was this fashion icon sewing?

MUSIC

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Don't Fall_Full
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Suspicion In A Small Town_Main
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STILLS
FRANCE-CULTURE-FASHION-CHANEL-EXHIBITION
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FRANCE-CULTURE-FASHION-CHANEL-EXHIBITION
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Street Style - Paris Fashion Week - Womenswear Fall/Winter 2020/2021 : Day Nine
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Captain Alfred Dreyfus, on Ogden's Cigarette Card, circa 1894-1907
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Forbes Magazine Building, 60 Fifth Avenue
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Coco Chanel
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Coco Chanel
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Great Fashion Icons - Coco Chanel
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Coco Chanel
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General Pellieux & Major
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Chanel, Coco - Modeschoepferin, Frankreich
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Alfred Dreyfus
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Will She Be Rescued? Political Cartoon on the Drefus Affair
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Ina Claire and Coco Chanel
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Creations by Coco Chanel Being Sold at Auction
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The Dreyfus Affair
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Walter Schellenberg Holds a Name Placard
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Fashion Designer Gabrielle Coco Chanel
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Coco Chanel
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FRANCE-CHANEL-EXHIBITION
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Miss Coco Chanel In Her Shop In Paris, France In 1954 -
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Coco Chanel In Paris, France In 1959 -
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Chanel Number 5
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French fashion designer Coco Chanel (L)
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Coco Chanel
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Chanel Jewellery
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Coco Chanel
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Gabrielle Chasnel called Coco Chanel (1883-1971), french fashion designer, here before 1914
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fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971) , c. early 50's
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Coco Chanel and her lover Arthur " Boy " Capel (mustache) with Constent Say on the beach in Saint Jean de Luz in 1917
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Coco Chanel
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Loire At Saumur
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Coco Chanel
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(FILES): This 02 May 2005 file photo sho
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Photomontage By Weegee
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Applying Perfume
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Chanel Coat
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Coco's Departure
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Chanel Sportswear
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Coco Chanel
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Political Hunter
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VIDEO
February 4, 1954 WS Marilyn Monroe sits down for a press conference while photographers take her picture / Tokyo, Japan
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Grand Prix de Paris horse race at Longchamp Racecourse
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A storefront display for Chanel showcases clothing.
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French Fashions on show in Brighton in aid of Polio research
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Axis Countries
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Gen. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Arthur Tedder, and Joseph Koenig at the Paris celebration of its liberation from Nazis
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Picto Awards 2020 & Gabrielle Chanel "Manifest de Mode" Exhibition At Palais Galliera
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Picto Awards 2020 & Gabrielle Chanel "Manifest de Mode" Exhibition At Palais Galliera
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Man and woman - Clara Bow - flirt
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Slow motion of flipping through the pages of a book
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Adolf Hitler in military uniform
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MOT: 1938: Nazi persecution of the German Jewish population
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France Faces The Coronavirus
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Stedicam shot. Camera moves forward along shelves filled with paper books. The huge round library in Stockholm, Sweden
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[McLovin]

She took “sleeping with the enemy” way too literally

[thepixelcatremmy]

The irony is Coco Chanel is currently owned by two Jewish brothers, Alain and Gérard Wertheimer.

[kharlopena]

The best part about this whole thing is that the Jewish investors that she wanted to oust had rightfully predicted this was a possibility, so they passed on their ownership of Chanel perfumes to a non-Jewish friend, effectively stopping her before she even started. It's the LEAST she deserves for being a terrible person.

[himesilva]

The Wertheimers were brilliant in their business maneuvers. They stuck through the bullying from Coco and ended up owning the brand! Talk about 3 steps ahead.

[jessicavictoriacarrillo]

Seeing Midge Maisel and her Mom in Chanel be awkward.
I do thank Coco Chanel for revolutionizing women's fashion to be more comfy and cute...it's a shame she didn't include all women in her vision.

[lunav]

All of these people in wealth & power have done something against their morals one way or another .

[mindybee]

"Most people know that Hugo Boss designed the Nazi uniforms-"
Most people know wHAT???

[dreamsteddybearsmaster]

OMG, I was waiting for this! Honestly I hate how everyone treats her like a goddess even though she is a terrible person... influential, like the Hugo Boss designers who made the SS Uniforms but it doesn't change the fact that she was an ungrateful witch. She is one of the faces of the luxury brand/clothing scene and her legacy lives on but yeah too many people don't know how crap a person she was. Even if most luxury brands have had their connection to scandal and even Neo Nazi ties.

[justchuy]

History is written by the victors… or written with checks to them.

[PazzoLucas]

As someone who worked for Chanel, I can confirm the current owners are Jewish (the Wertheimers are quite reclusive). The funny thing is their granddad (Pierre) supported her venture into perfumery and Pierre and Coco spent the rest of their days in legal battles. So much so, Pierre once remarked he had a team of lawyers dedicated with dealing with her.

[rex]

We gotta stop idolizing some of these people

[ellesbelles]

Hugo Boss did not design the Nazi uniforms. He was a textile manufacturer who was already making uniforms for other professions (like mailmen and police uniforms). In the 1930s, he got a contract to switch over to manufacturing the Nazi uniforms instead. And he stopped after the war and went back to manufacturing the previous types of uniforms.

He was still a huge Nazi, though. And he used forced labor at his factory during the war. However, he is not the designer of the Nazi uniforms.

The company that bought out Hugo Boss in the 90s apparently didn't find out about the Nazi-ties until a few years after they bought it. And they very openly looked deeper into their namesake and the company history and reported it. They were much more open than Chanel about how questionable their namesake was though.

[itssomarkness]

Wait. Why did this video left out the main reason she went to business with Wertheimer?

At that time, women were not allowed to own businesses or even have bank accounts in France. The only reason the House of Chanel existed was because it was Boy Capel in the name, a man. Since Boy and Chanel were in a relationship, she had free reign and would keep the money. She hired women and gave them jobs and were highly paid.

When Boy died, she needed a male business partner and went with Wertheimer due to the fact that they have worked with other fashion brands. Unfortunately the deal she got means the Wertheimer owned the Chanel brand and Coco would only get 10 percent of the profits. Again, she had no choice as women weren't financially independent as now. So I kinda get why she hated them and would want to gain ownership of her brand.

I'm not gonna defend her actions but I think people need context as to why people do things so as we have a bigger perspective.

[florindalucero]

"Didn't stay in romantic relationships for long", yeah.... she was by her own admission, what could charitably be referred to as a courtesan. She may have famously "paid back every cent", but it was her various clients er amours, who financed her endeavors. She once said, in regards to preferring an androgynous look for her models, that it was because of her own body, and how she relished using her "hot little body".

[LeeLe]

Great video, love the fact that you included videos showcasing the products that changed fashion forever! Very thoughtful.
Although I would have added that Dreyfus was officially exonerated by a military commission and was only found guilty due to antisemitism (the real traitor was Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy). So her mistrust of Jews was unfounded, but as you said, it was probably her catholic upbringing.

[broccoli]

Coco Chanel Hugo Boss are my favorite ❤❤❤

[jnnyism]

The wurtheimers were not exactly paragons of good business themselves. The Chanel history is a messy and controversial one

[billnyethesciencedenier]

The more I hear about this lady, the more I like her

[bovinoubrazilino]

As a Catholic with a Druze great-grandfather I'm extremely angry that a Catholic was that Ant-semitic.

[ShonnysLab]

How and why the hell is her legacy still held in hi-regard? This is beyond problematic