“1:15 p.m. on Sunday.” Joséphine and Coco, from the Roaring Twenties to the Dark Twenties > Episodes 3 & 4

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.

One resists, the other collaborates

At the start of the Second World War, Joséphine Baker put herself at the service of Free France by becoming an intelligence agent under the orders of her handling officer Jacques Abtey, head of military counter-espionage in Paris. In particular, she goes to cocktail parties in embassies to gather valuable information. His commitment earned him the French Resistance medal, with rosette, and the Croix de Guerre 1939-1945.

The fashion designer Coco Chanel did not shine heroically during these dark years. And at the end of summer 1944, she was arrested by members of the French Interior Forces (FFI). It’s time for suspicions and interrogations. Do they have any information about her? What does Coco Chanel risk?

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