a lesson in fashion history: coco chanel's involvement with the nazi's

Chanel is one of the most famous fashion brands in all of history and is an industry powerhouse. However, you’d be surprised to find out that behind this name, behind the double C logo and the No. 5, lies an incredibly dark history.

To this day, it is a little known or little discussed fact that Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was actually involved with the Nazi party during World War II in several different and alarming capacities. Besides being a notorious anti-Semite, Gabrielle Chanel was the lover of a Nazi officer and propagandist named Hans Günther von Dincklage. This man was appointed to a special position granted by Joseph Goebbels himself within the German embassy in Paris. The two were so romantically connected that they even moved in together, and lived for a time in Paris’ Ritz Hotel. In conjunction with this, she was also said to be a Nazi intelligence operative and informant. She was so heavily involved with the Nazi party, that she was even given a proper agent identification – Abwehr Agent F-7124 with a code name: Westminister, a reference to her previous connection to the Duke of Westminister. Chanel used her popularity and power to partner alongside von Dincklage as they both went on missions all around the continent of Europe to recruit new agents for the Third Reich together.

Although there are no direct quotes from Chanel indicating her outright anti-Semitism, one incident in particular with the famous Jewish family the Wertheimers is more than telling of her personal beliefs. In 1924, Chanel wanted to expand her empire and needed financial assistance. A Jewish businessman by the name of Pierre Wertheimer gave her the money that she needed, but wanted to gain 90% ownership of her company. This contract left Chanel bitter for years and years to come, so much so that she even appealed to the Nazis for control of her company during World War II.

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws made it literally impossible for any Jew to own a business in Germany. By 1941, nearly two-thirds of all Jewish-owned German businesses had been sold to non-Jews for a cost that was well below market value. Chanel took advantage of these laws after the 1940 Nazi occupation of France, where she was living at the time. By this time, Wertheimer had fled to America to escape the Nazis and Chanel seized her opportunity. She even wrote this in a letter to Nazi officials stating her case for the return of Parfums Chanel to her full ownership: “Parfums Chanel is still the property of Jews…and has been legally ‘abandoned’ by the owners. I have an indisputable right of priority. The profits that I have received from my creations since the foundation of this business…are disproportionate.” Her efforts were largely unsuccessful. Wertheimer had already transferred the business to a non-Jewish friend prior to his departure. She was unable to legally obtain control of the company. The House of Chanel remains firmly in the legal control of the Wertheimer family to this very day.

So why is it that this is not well-known information? Why is it that Gabrielle Chanel never received any sort of consequences for her crimes and direct involvement with the Nazi party during the post-WWII era? Is it that nobody cared and everyone was willing to overlook it because of her talent? Historically, this specific incident that was actually nothing small to overlook was in fact glazed over by the fashion industry and the world alike. This is not something that haunts the brand down to this day, and ultimately they never suffered for these wrongdoings in any way. This clearly shows the tremendous non-chalant and ignorant attitudes that have always been present in the fashion industry, whether they were visible or not.

If something like this were to happen today, would we as a people choose to forget about it? I highly doubt that any brand could survive the backlash they would receive from outraged consumers and people alike. Most brands today do not want to be associated with any form of Nazism, or thinking of the kind. As soon as Donald Trump campaigned for presidency, brands were fleeing by the hundreds to disassociate and distance themselves from him. In the age of social media, it’s nearly impossible to avoid everybody finding out about what someone said or did, especially if they’re a presidential candidate. On the day that the Access Hollywood tapes were released, an online campaign called #grabyourwallet was started to begin a list of companies to boycott who were even remotely associated with Donald Trump or any of his family members. Since then, Trump’s ridiculous actions have also caused numerous CEO’s to step down from his economic advisory board. By February of this year, department stores like Nordstrom’s were even dropping association with his daughter Ivanka Trump’s clothing line and refused to carry her merchandise in their stores or sell it online.

Just by simply acknowledging Chanel’s problematic history is a tarnishing blow to her legacy. If more of us knew or cared about Coco Chanel’s past, she most definitely would not be so widely celebrated and appreciated on account of her blatant involvement with the Nazis. Even if boycotting the brand itself wouldn’t essentially be doing anything, the act of acknowledgement and recognition of Chanel’s horrendous past is enough to prove to ourselves that we can take accountability for our history, and we have the opportunity to discard our own association with her actions, and to distance ourselves from brands that continue to support any political figure that doesn’t stand for human values. That act alone gives us power not only as fashion-lovers and consumers, but as human beings. Coco Chanel shows us that by calling out the wrongdoings of any major public figure, political or otherwise, we have the power to influence their success and more importantly, their real impact on society.