The secret life of Coco Chanel is a labyrinth stumping nearly every biographer until Justine Picardie began to peel away the layers and show that Coco was sharing her story all along.  Beautiful photo comparisons between the austere aesthetics in the convent orphanage of her youth and the designs she used on the buttons on the classic Chanel jacket are illuminating.  Justine approaches the life of Coco Chanel with the intimacy this complicated and non-linear life deserves.

Coco Chanel: The Legend and The Life by Justine Picardie