This series in four episodes from the magazine “1:15 p.m. on Sunday” portrays Joséphine Baker (1906-1975) and the couturier Coco Chanel (1883-1971).
This series in four episodes from the magazine “1:15 p.m. on Sunday” (X, #1:15 p.m.), signed Stéphane Dépinoy and Clément Magnin, draws portraits of Joséphine Baker, who entered the Panthéon on November 30, 2021 for her role in particular in the Resistance from 1940, and of the fashion designer Coco Chanel.
Two life paths, two destinies, two female figures from the interwar period who made contrary choices. Joséphine the artist, muse of the Roaring Twenties. And Coco, who left her mark on fashion by revolutionizing women’s silhouettes. Two women who have spanned the century. And when the Second World War broke out, one chose to resist while the other collaborated with the occupier.
Two successful women
At the end of the 1920s, Coco Chanel lived her English period. Her lover Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster, is the richest man in England. She has enjoyed enormous success and her influence on fashion is growing. For her part, Joséphine Baker, who arrived in France at the age of 19, quickly became the queen of the music hall in Paris. She was naturalized French in 1937.
The Roaring Twenties passed, World War II broke out. Joséphine wants to serve France, which she will do with Jacques Abtey, a big name in French military counter-espionage. Gabrielle Chanel will make a diametrically opposed choice by collaborating with the Nazis and trying to play intermediary between the Germans and the Allies.
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