Audrey Tautou is Gabrielle Chanel in Coco Before Chanel
This is definitely one for the ladies – but men, if you’re looking for a date film that will earn you some Brownie points, Coco Before Chanel is it.
This is the story of Gabrielle Chanel, who begins her life as a headstrong orphan and through an extraordinary journey becomes the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of ambition, success, freedom and style.
Fashionistas will love the intricate details including the inspiration for the striped mariners sweater and the conception of the legendary Chanel bag.
Two milliners created the 800 hats used in the film, and costume designer Catherine Leterrier even located the platinum and diamond necklace that had belonged to Chanel at the Louvre des Antiquaires, which you can spot on Audrey Tautou in the restaurant scene, complementing a black sequin evening dress.
But this isn’t just a film about the history of fashion; it is the fascinating story of a young woman on the cusp of inventing herself, challenging the society she lives in, and having the courage and ambition to be a modern woman in a period when it wasn’t the norm to do so.
It is also a tragic love story, as Chanel refuses to marry the man she loves, preferring instead the loneliness and suffering which her creativity was fuelled on.
Coco Before Chanel is in cinemas now
Tags: Date Film