Did She or Didn't She

She created the little black dress that became a part of every woman's wardrobe.  She created a perfume that survived and is still on the market.  In the 1930's she went to Hollywood to design costumes for several movies but her designs were more for the showroom floor rather than movies.  Who is she?  She is Coco Chanel, creator of the perfume Chanel number 5.

Although she rewrote her history, in reality, she lived in an orphanage when she was 12 because her single mother passed away.  She made a living as both a seamstress and a burlesque performer who took her name "Coco" from the title of a song she regularly performed.

She met a wealthy cavalry officer who showed her a more privileged life which gave her a taste for the finer things.  She made hats for her friends while living with her lover.  Along the way she fell in love with her lover's best friend and he financed her first hat shop in Paris in 1910.

It was only a few years later, she began selling clothing which helped her gain the reputation of a couture.  This also helped her pay off the man who funded her business.  Sometime in the early 1920's she developed her now world famous Chanel number 5 perfume and began marketing it.

Recently, allegations have emerged about her and what she did during World War II that indicate she worked for the Nazi's and might have been a spy.  I was quite surprised to read this as I only knew her as a fashion designer.

First, it is alleged she used the Nazi Party in her attempt to take total control of her perfume company.  Back in 1924, she needed funding for her perfume company so she accepted financing from Paul and Pierre Wertheimer, two Jewish businessmen. 

According to the agreement, she was left with only 10 percent of the company so in the 1930's, she took advantage of Aryan laws as a way of trying to reassert her total ownership of the company but by this time the brothers turned control and ownership to a nonjewish friend.  This prevented her from reclaiming the company.  In addition, they'd fled to New York to safety.

Secondly, She closed her shops down in 1939 just as World War II began, claiming it wasn't time for fashion, disappearing till the 1950's.  Yet it is said she became the lover of Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, the attache assigned by Joseph Goebbels to the German Embassy in Paris in 1933.  It was here they met, became lovers and moved in together at the Ritz in Paris.  Apparently, she was recruited in 1941 as a Nazi spy who traveled around Europe with Baron Louis de Vaufreland. It was their job to recruit spies for the Third Reich.

During this time period she interacted with the British including delivering a letter to Winston Churchill suggesting he end the war with Germany.  As we know the war continued on for another two years.  When the war ended, it was decided not to persecute Coco Chanel.  She and her lover moved to Switzerland until 1954 when she made a deal with the Wertheimer brothers to bring Chanel number 5 back.  The House of Chanel arose from the ashes of the war but her creations were not as popular in Europe as they'd been before the war, however, American fell in love with her fashion.

Was she a Nazi Spy?  I have not seen definitive proof but there are documents which indicate she could easily have been.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.