Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel is widely recognized for her prominent luxury fashion brand, which has become synonymous with French fashion. However, her personal history is tarnished by controversial actions. During WWII, she operated as a Nazi agent under the code “Westminster,” offering support to German officers, including figures like Himmler. She also demanded the removal of Jewish directors from her brand.
Amid the onset of WWII in 1939, Coco Chanel abruptly closed her fashion operations, displacing around 4,000 workers. While she justified this move by citing the war’s incompatibility with fashion, some biographers speculate that she used this opportunity to retaliate against workers involved in the French general labor strike in 1936, a movement advocating for better working conditions and wages.
