The short film, Coco - Inside CHANEL, is a lovely trip down the rabbit hole of the designer's incredible life. As part of a series of whimsical animated videos showcasing key moments in the French luxury brand's development, this one focuses squarely on the fashion doyenne herself. (You even find out how she got her nickname — it's not what you think.)
The animated clip explores her lonely roots, religious adolescence, fateful encounters, and iconoclastic interests — all which fueled the irreverence and ingenuity that went into creating Chanel's signature dark, minimal aesthetic. That austerity, culled from architecture and paired with a fascination for baroque-inspired ornamentation, totally reinvented notions of feminine dressing and started a new era of fashion. The clip ends on a bittersweet note that underscores Coco's almost eerie determination to move things forward — no matter what. "Either I die as well, " she says of a deceased lover, Boy Capel, "or I finish what we started together." As we know, she chose to go on. Watch below.