CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 8/18/2025

Coco Chanel's breathtaking work of the 1920s

“Here she is, stepping around the raw materials, between imposing bolts of jersey fabric and reams of printed scarves spread all over the floor. Long swags of shimmering satin—large piles of elastic remnants that make no noise as they collapse. The very walls of the room are muffled by padded, fleecy fabric and silky, woolen materials; here all is silence. A diminutive figure, deaf to the world, holds her breath: Mademoiselle Chanel is busy sculpting a six-foot angel.” So wrote Colette in the April 1930 issue of Bravo magazine. Featured photograph, by Edward Steichen, is of model Marion Morehouse wearing a Chanel black crepe romain bolero dress and skirt with embroidered sequined fringes, and black satin shoes by Cammeyer, while standing and holding an ostrich feather fan in the apartment of Condé Nast, from American Vogue, May 1, 1926. It is one of 300 reproductions in new release Coco Chanel's Roaring Twenties, published by Hatje Cantz.