“The Last Collection” by Jeanne Mackin – Clash of the Fashion Titans

Jeanne Mackin is one of the many authors engaged in immersing us in the lesser-known and often overlooked bits and pieces of human history.

In The Last Collection, Mackin does this once again by transporting us to the centre of a legendary feud between two iconic fashion designers, Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli.

As Paris sways indecisively between the imagination of the two women, the looming Nazi threat might just take this competition into unforeseen territory.

Jeanne Mackin and French Fashion

In and of itself, I find the concept of fashion to be a rather curious affair, having changed dramatically over the course of human history in virtually any culture you look at. It seems there are few things set in stone in this industry, constantly shaping and evolving with the imagination of its creators and often reflecting certain realities from their time.

There are few objective truths when it comes to fashion, but I believe one thing everyone can agree on, and it's the importance of Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli in the history of the subject, something The Last Collection by Jeanne Mackin aims to teach us in its full scope.

The work of fiction begins by taking us to Paris in 1938, and while the world is essentially on the brink of the Second World War, in France some of the focus is diverted elsewhere: a battle for recognition between two titans of fashion, the afore-mentioned Chanel and Schiaparelli.

Their designs are in direct contrast with each other, and from where the people are standing at least, they diametrically oppose one another at every turn in life.

Ultimately, either Chanel's classic elegance or Schiaparelli's bold and experimental tones can reign supreme, and they're fighting tooth and nail for their place in the pantheon of fashion history.

Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli

Caught in this strange whirlwind is a young widowed American teacher, Lily Stutter, who happens to be visiting her brother Charlie in Paris. Though her brother tries to buy her a Chanel dress, Lily prefers Schiaparelli, and it doesn't take long for Charlie's popular girlfriend to follow in the same vein.

Soon, Schiaparelli's designs gain in prominence, and Elsa herself offers a Lily a job at her store. From there on out, Lily is brought closer and closer to the conflict between the two ladies, even as things escalate into real danger with the Nazi threat looming just around the corner.

The Power of Style

If you have looked around this website, you may have gathered I am not exactly the target audience for this type of book, and I admit this to be completely true. The developments in the realm fashion have never held great importance for me, and my interest in the subject never went beyond the concept itself and its ever-changing nature.

Nevertheless, this book really managed to captivate my interest the further I got into it, and I think the biggest reason for it was its display of how fashion is shaped by the world, and how the world, in return, can also be shaped by fashion.

We get a pretty profound look into how the people of Paris closely followed the fierce competition between the two women, how their designs were correlated with ideas and even, in some case, philosophies which people either adopted or rejected.

More than mere fashion designers, they were seen as venerable artists whose works were capable of penetrating the fabric of human existence. Frankly-speaking, it gave me a different lens through which to examine style and fashion.

I found it was particularly intriguing to witness the developments in the designs of these two women as the war gets closer and closer, and the everlasting reverence they kept receiving despite what might have been looming on the horizon.

If anything, the body of work these women accomplished had me wondering, above anything else, what might have been had they helped rather than fought each other... then again, perhaps it is the competition itself which drove them to greatness.

The Nazi Involvement

As you might have gathered, many chapters of the book are devoted to Chanel and Schiaparelli, depicting in-depth the kind of women they were, all they accomplished and failed at. However, there is also a decent portion of this historical novel dedicated to the military and political context which governed France during this time, notably, the rise of the Third Reich. Most notably, we delve into this aspect through the fictional character of Lily, especially as she begins to have a romance with a Nazi officer down the line.

Personally, I don't have anything against the depiction of the “Good Nazi” who was coerced into carrying out atrocities under threat of death. How prominent they were in real life is a subject best-left for another discussion, but I will say in fictional stories, this depiction is somewhat bordering on cliche.

Nevertheless, this sub-plot didn't bother me as much as I believed it would, underscoring the vague and uncertain atmosphere which reigned during those days quite well. I simply found it to be weaker than the parts related to the Chanel-Schiaparelli feud.

So far I may have given the impression of this book being on the lighter side of things, with fashion wars, good Nazis and whatnot, but there are definitely some heavier moments you would expect to find in a story taking place in late 30s France.

There are displays of Antisemitism, racial slurs, soul-sucking grief, survivor's guilt, violence, multiple deaths, and the general desolation which comes along with war. There is definitely not a lot of romanticizing about the time period here.

The Final Verdict

The Last Collection by Jeanne Mackin is a very interesting descent into a fashion war between two of the grandest designers in human history, taking place on the brink of World War II. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the concept of fashion or the history curious between Chanel and Schiaparelli.

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Jeanne Mackin Personal site Jeanne Mackin is an American author as well as a fellow of the American Antiquarian Society. Her published novels include A Lady of Good Family, Dreams of Empire and The Queen's War. She also has two non-fiction works to her name, The Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers and The Book of Love, which she co-authored with Diane Ackerman.