For over a decade her name has been little more than a memory borne on the elusive scent of a perfume now made by someone else. Yet, during the 1920s, when Paris was still the uncontested capital of haute couture, the unchallenged queen regnant of Paris fashion was petite, disdainful Gabrielle ("Coco") Chanel. A bored, restless, country-bred orphan who fled to the city at 17 with no capital beyond her native Auvergnate shrewdness, Chanel had parlayed a flair for simple elegance into a million-dollar fashion business whose headquarters was the distinctive salon at...
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