Fashion designer Coco Chanel (1883-1971) seems to be everywhere right now. Born Gabrielle Chanel, she was a leader in the new sporty look that was fashionable after World War I, and her namesake brand is still strong. She’s got a problematic side, too, having collaborated with the Nazis and the Vichy regime during World War II in order to promote her brand (read more at the New York Times, specifically, about how current show The New Look isn’t avoiding this but isn’t going hard at it either). But whether you love her, hate her, or don’t really care either way, she’s been on screen a number of times — including right now in The New Look and soon in the TV bioseries Cristóbal Balenciaga (2024).
Let’s run down Chanel on screen:
Marie-France Pisier in Chanel Solitaire (1981)
A biopic feature film that co-starred Timothy Dalton and Rutger Hauer.
Leslie Caron in The Man Who Lived at the Ritz (1989)
An adaptation of a novel about an American painter who lives at the Ritz Hotel during the German occupation of Paris (World War II), and who befriends various famous people including Chanel.
Barbora Bobulova & Shirley MacLaine in Coco Chanel (2008)
A TV biopic, with Bobulova playing young Chanel and Maclaine older.
Audrey Tautou in Coco Before Chanel (2009)
A feature film biopic that focuses on Chanel’s early years, mostly pre-designer, in which she worked as a seamstress and dressed in her own avant-garde, stripped-down style.
Anna Mouglalis in Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
Chanel is rumored to have had a romantic affair with composer Stravinsky. This feature film is an adaptation of a fictional novel about the rumored affair.
Romane Portail in Frankie Drake Mysteries: Dressed to Kill (2018)
A Canadian TV series about two female detectives in the 1920s. In this episode, Chanel hires them to find out who tried to shoot her when she visited Toronto.
Rebecca Calder in Genius: Picasso (2018)
Sadly, I can’t find any photos of Calder from this biographical anthology series, this season focusing on Spanish painter Pablo Picasso. I’m not even entirely sure how Chanel figures into the story!
Juliette Binoche in The New Look (2024- )
We’re currently recapping this TV series about designer Christian Dior, his innovative designs after World War II, and his rivalry with Chanel.
Anouk Grinberg in Cristóbal Balenciaga (2024)
This Spanish TV bio-series is about designer Balenciaga, who moves to Paris to compete with designers like Dior and Chanel. It’s been released in Spain and the UK, among other places; will we get to see it in the US?
Which portrayal of Coco Chanel do you find most interesting?
Great post! Two small things:
1) The woman shown with Rutger Hauer in the photo from CHANEL SOLITAIRE is not Marie-France Pisier as Chanel– it’s Karen Black playing actress / “renowned courtesan” Émilienne d’Alençon (who was also featured in COCO BEFORE CHANEL, where she was played by Emmanuelle Devos).
2) This might’ve been a deliberate choice because it’s Broadway rather than film, but– Katharine Hepburn got there first, playing Chanel in the 1969 Alan Jay Lerner-Andre Previn musical COCO, which was nominated for multiple Tony Awards in 1970, including a win for Cecil Beaton’s costume design. (There are a number of photos and clips online of Hepburn in Beaton’s costumes, and they look pretty good.)
Ok, I admit I did squint at the Rutger Hauer image a few times because I wasn’t sure if that was indeed Pisier, but the source credited her so I went with it. Will update! Thanks!
Oh and yes, we don’t usually include stage performances in our posts :)