Coco and Igor

Coco and Igor

Company type	Novel
Industry	Literature
Founded	2002
Founder	Chris Greenhalgh
Products	Novel

Coco and Igor is a novel published in 2002 by Chris Greenhalgh, primarily set in Paris during the year 1920. The story delves into a speculative real-life romance between the renowned fashion designer Coco Chanel and the composer Igor Stravinsky.

Plot summary

When Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring debuted in Paris on 29 May 1913, its unconventional music and daring choreography stunned the audience. Coco Chanel found herself deeply intrigued by the piece.

Fast forward seven years to a dinner organized by impresario Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballets Russes, where Coco encounters Igor, who had escaped Russia with his family following the Russian Revolution. She extends an invitation to them to stay at her villa in Garches, named Bel Respiro.

Their relationship soon evolves into an affair, inspiring bursts of creativity: Coco collaborates with Ernest Beaux to create the legendary Chanel No. 5 fragrance, while Igor’s compositions embrace a freer, more innovative style. However, complications arise as Igor’s wife Katerina suffers from tuberculosis.

Structure

The novel consists of eighty-eight chapters, symbolically matching the number of keys on a piano, reinforcing its musical motif.

Film adaptation

In 2009, Greenhalgh adapted his novel into the film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, directed by Jan Kounen and featuring performances by Anna Mouglalis and Mads Mikkelsen. This film was chosen to be the closing presentation at the prestigious 2009 Cannes Film Festival on 24 May 2009.

Historical context

In the spring of 1920, Chanel was introduced to Stravinsky through Sergei Diaghilev, who managed the Ballets Russes. That summer, Chanel invited Stravinsky and his family to reside at her estate "Bel Respiro" while they searched for permanent accommodation; they arrived in September and remained until May 1921. Additionally, Chanel discreetly provided a financial guarantee of approximately 300,000 francs for the 1920 Ballets Russes production of The Rite of Spring, protecting it against potential losses.

While the novel’s depiction of intimate relationships is largely imaginative, it is known that Stravinsky had multiple affairs, including one rumored with Chanel. Although Stravinsky never publicly acknowledged this liaison, Chanel spoke about it extensively with her biographer Paul Morand in 1946 (later published as l'Allure de Chanel). The authenticity of this claim has been questioned by Stravinsky’s second wife, Vera, and his collaborator Robert Craft. The Chanel fashion house asserts that there is no documented proof supporting any romantic involvement between Chanel and Stravinsky.

English

• UK hardback: Headline Review, 1 July 2002 ()
• UK paperback: Headline Review, 7 July 2003 ()
• US trade paperback: Riverhead Books (Penguin USA), 1 December 2009 ()

Translations

Coco and Igor has been rendered into multiple languages:

• French: 'Coco et Igor' – Calmann-Levy, 8 April 2009, translated by Elsa Maggion ()
• Russian: 'Villa Bel Respiro' – Symposium, 1 June 2009 ()
• Polish: 'Coco i Igor' – Wydawnictwo Amber, 2002, translated by Barbara Przbylowska ()
• Greek: 'Coco and Igor' – Empeiria, November 2003, translated by Persa Koumoutsi ()
• Chinese: 'Coco and Igor' – Sun Color Culture Publishing Co. Ltd, October 2009 ()