Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was a visionary and her perfumes, clothes, and importance shine just as brightly today.
She lost her mother at age 12 and was raised by the nuns at the orphanage. She worked as a seamstress at a young age, which taught her how to maintain quality, and was a singer of two songs at a supper club in Paris. She certainly knew adversity, but used it to develop her many talents. Born in 1883, she opened her first shop at age 27. She believed in women, and her clothes cradled the female body. They still do.
Her clothing is elegant, understated and classic. She embraced the suntan, created the Little Black Dress, which is the epitome of understated elegance, and gave the world many perfumes -147 to date, including Chanel #5 in 1921.
Called Coco by her friends, she introduced pants as an elegant expression of freedom and taste. Her life personified her view of freedom for women, her life was not the usual one that women of her time lived. The ultimate free spirit, she lived her life as she wished.
"Bonheur ", her middle name, means "happiness" in French, and it suggests a destiny since she still brings happiness to so many, even after her passing.
Her line of costume jewelry brought the costs down and presented affordability in her offerings. She remained in control of her company until her death in 1971.. Karl Lagerfeld took over creative design in 1983 and maintained the dignity in her fashion.
The book is visually pleasing, with little colored blocks laying out the experiences of her life.
A powerhouse in her own time, her vision persists today.
This reader learned a lot about her in this book, and it leaves me feeling that young girls and grown women could learn so much from her life and refusal to be held back. And oh! The fashion!
Her legacy lives on, as strong and influential as it ever was.
Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me to read the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is a cute little book though, due to size I suppose, a bit light on any depth.

The book is chock full of little anecdotes about Coco Chanel. There are a couple of very sparse references to her scandals, but those are very, very light.

It also gives a retrospect of the various iconic fashion items that helped to make her famous.

It whets the appetite to learn more and leaves you a bit unsatisfied.

I don't know that it does the icon and her story justice.

The Pocket Chanel" by Gemini is a beautifully curated guide that perfectly captures the elegance and timeless style of Chanel in a compact, insightful format. A must-have for fashion lovers, it offers a delightful blend of history, inspiration, and iconic designs in an easily digestible read!

The Pocket Chanel by Gemini was a small book packed with so much information about the fabulous Coco Chanel.
I am a big fan of her fragrances (well, most of them) and her love her clothing, but I could never afford any of her clothes, but they are so beautiful to look at on famous people.

Coco Chanel is famous for so many things from the little black dress, the 2.55 handbag to costume jewellery and Chanel No. 5 perfume. They were her simple and elegant designs were so novel and original that they changed fashion for ever.

Perfect little book if you are a fan. - I'll wait for my birthday for another bottle of Chanel No 5 lol.

This book is a bit broad for my liking — it covers, Coco Chanel’s early years, romantic interludes, and death but little about her career trajectory. Iconic pieces and silhouettes from the brand were described with no photos, and “iconic” shows mentioned were all long after Coco passed away. Overall, this feels more like a soft coffee table book but the lack of photos feels like a blunder.

The Pocket Chanel is a cute, easy to read book about the influences of the woman herself and the brand. It has some u go about her life, Chanel during the war being accused of being a spy, the clothes during different times in history..

If you are looking for an in-depth book this is not it but it is great for getting to know a bit more about the person especially’

I have always loved fashion and reading about the origins of the business. The Pocket Chanel gives you a taste of Coco Chanel. With descriptions of her early life and how she began designing for the modern woman, this book touches on her iconic style in bags and clothing. Later, the focus shifts to additional designers that enhanced the already popular line. Good info with assorted pictures.

An informative, short, biography on the ever so fabulous Coco Chanel. Perfect for fashionistas and people who appreciate the backstory of these infamous designers. I appreciated getting an inside look at who Coco Chanel was, which fed my curiosity about this fabulous designer and brand.

1.5 stars

A trifling look at the woman and the fashion house. They tiptoe right around saying that she consorted with Nazis (but they get pretty close) and they try to describe a bunch of things they desperately needed to include things for which they needed to include photos. This really required photos plus at least a hundred more pages to do it justice and that’s just for a pocket guide.

For some context, I am not a supporter of luxury, nor am I fan of Coco Chanel or the brand (surely, some of their products and designs are cool, but I mean as a principle and standpoint), though for storytelling purposes, I find C. Chanel fascinating, and the brand’s influence is intriguing for similar reasons.
This book met my expectations; a quick read about the designer and the brand, as a reminder of some interesting aspects of both, presented with some high quality photos.
The material would benefit from further editing, but I liked the variety of information and photos included, and the layout is awesome.

Overall, the book was well written and I did really enjoy it. The facts were interesting. Thank you for this advance reading copy!

This was so interesting learning about Coco Chanel. This details her life from the start to even her legacy of the Chanel brand.

The Pocket Chanel (Book 32 of The Pocket) by Gemini is an overview to the life of couturier Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel and the luxury fashion brand she founded. The book tells the story of Chanel's life from her humble beginnings to the end of her life and spotlights her luxury brand and collections.

I enjoyed this book, particularly the stories behind some of her creations. I would recommend this book to fans of Coco Chanel and fashion lovers as well.

Thank you to Gemini Books Group for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A adorable little pocket read on one of the most historic and loved fashion brands! It was so unlearning about the history of such an iconic brand! There were things I didn’t even know being a fashion afficianado!

I had always had a fascination with Coco Chanel. I hated her fragrances and her clothing but I always had a huge fascination with her. Now that I had read her story, I can see why her life was so.fascinating. the book was a little.on the short side but its ok because its just a layer of her life being explained. Which is very fascinating. A must read book if you have interest in fragrances and clothing.

I have received a free copy of the book and is voluntarily writing a review

I knew a bit about Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel before I read this book, but never felt I understood her. She is a respected but controversial figure who knew what she wanted and went for it. I Chanel had an inner strength that was laudable, but we do tend to prickle when we think about some of her behavior during WWII. Nonetheless, I can't say I found her unlikeable - probably because Gortner makes it so we can understand her actions, even when they make us cringe. To me, the very qualities people want to criticize her for having (or at least those they view as rendering her unlikeable) are the same qualities that made her capable of being the force she was. People are complicated, and the traits that lead to success and the ability to have a profound cultural influence on the world can prove to be liabilities in other situations.Chanel was exceedingly driven, fearless, savvy, and an astute business woman. That said, she was an incredibly complicated person -- the adjectives "kind" and "generous" wouldn't be used to describe her. Being born penniless and then abandoned left her deeply distrustful.

The Pocket Chanel was an interesting book. The book was split into four different sections: biography, fashion, accessories, and pop culture. Each section had a lot of information about Coco Chanel and her work along with quotes from Chanel. This book provides all the information necessary to truly understand who Coco Chanel was as a person and designer. It also provides the read with plenty of information on her more popular styles and creations. My only complaint is that I would have love more photos. It would have been nice to have a visual representation of the looks the book was describing. Otherwise, this was a good book with really good information.

The editing on this book needs a lot of work so I hope it hasn’t been printed yet

She opened her first 2 shops in 1913 and 1915 but then 5 years later in 2015?!? She was in magazines. - something needs fixed there.

Overall it was an interesting little read but I got bored when it got to the facts of each piece.
Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review