Tangled tale of the Chanel legend

Q&A: You mean that strange man?

Why the name "Coco"? Gabrielle Chanel took to the stage while young, singing solos for soldiers from a local barracks. One song in her repertoire was Qui qu'a vu Coco? about a girl who has lost her dog. The soldiers gave her the dog's name.

I hear Chanel is now designed by a strange man in sunglasses. You are correct. Karl Lagerfeld, the label's head designer, is famous for his sunglasses, suit and dazzling white hair. Sometimes a glove or catwalk model completes the look. A recent post from Lagerfeld's Twitter feed proclaims: "Luxury is the income tax of vanity. But it is so pleasant."

What is Chanel about today? Chanel's autumn collection is designed for an economic downturn, with dirt-coloured trousers and coats to keep you warm while the heater is switched off. A long, wrinkled gown is set off by fingerless gloves borrowed from a homeless man's wardrobe.

Review: Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Today the brand evokes images of pastel tweeds on the Upper East Side and thousand-dollar handbags.

Yet the provenance of one of the world's most expensive design houses is the shrewd business sense of a woman who grew up without luxury, according to a new biography.

Coco Chanel's story is a tangled one, and the fashion journalist Justine Picardie tries to separate the truth from the lies in Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life.

The problem is that Chanel, who died in 1971, constantly edited her life story, recounting conflicting versions of her childhood in what might be considered an early model of brand management. The woman who insisted her employees call her Mademoiselle once ripped off the page of her passport that revealed the year she was born - 1883.

Picardie, a former features director at Vogue, relies on newspaper accounts, French secret intelligence records and even the letters of Sir Winston Churchill, a former UK prime minister who was a fishing and hunting partner of Chanel.

Interviews with Chanel's confidantes reveal a woman with an instinct for a deal.

The designer managed to recruit two fallen Russian aristocrats to work for her, knowing that their social allure was more valuable than their skills in embroidery and jewellery design.

But ultimately she failed to retain her empire. In the 1950s she sold her rights to the label to an old business partner who would finance costs.

Picardie chooses to defend the Chanel legacy, shrugging off claims that the designer collaborated with Germany during the occupation of France during the Second World War or tried to take advantage of discriminatory laws to divest her long-time Jewish business partners.

The book is full of photographs of a gamine Chanel and sketches by Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director, that depict fictional conversations between him and the label's founder.

True to fashion, imagining the woman trumps pinning down the truth.