INSEAD Book Salon : CHANEL: HER INTIMATE WORLD

Hosted by INSEAD Book Salon's founders Elmira Abezivanova (LTF’24Mar) and Aloïs Loizeau (BFC’23Dec)

March is the month in which we celebrate International Women’s Day - a moment to honor women who have reshaped society through courage, vision, and independence. This special edition of the INSEAD Book Salon is dedicated to a woman who did precisely that….Coco Chanel!
Coco Chanel did not simply create fashion - she created freedom.
At a time when women were confined by convention, she liberated the body, redefined elegance, and built a global maison under her own name. She elevated women in business to a new level, proving that ambition could be graceful and that independence could be timeless.
To revisit the woman behind the legend, we turn to an amazing book “Chanel: Her Intimate World” by Isabelle Fiemeyer.
A long-time journalist, literary critic and biographer, Isabelle Fiemeyer brings rare sensitivity and depth to her subject. What makes this biography exceptional is its deeply personal foundation. The book is the result of years of conversations and trusted relationships with members of Chanel’s own family, who became close friends of the author. First and foremost is Gabrielle Palasse-Labrunie, Coco Chanel’s sole direct descendant who was close to her for over forty years. She is the daughter of André Palasse, Chanel’s “son-nephew”, who in all probability was her own child.
Through these privileged exchanges, Isabelle Fiemeyer gained rare access to family memories, photographs, personal objects, and intimate recollections that reveal Coco Chanel not as a distant icon, but as a woman of complexity, contradiction, tenderness, and unwavering determination.
The volume is completed by a revelatory chapter on the war period, fruit of years of research and investigation.
✨ Program

• Welcome coffee prepared by one of the finest baristas of Saint-Germain-des-Prés
• A refined presentation and conversation around the book with Isabelle Fiemeyer
• A dialogue on feminine leadership, independence, and creative audacity
• Networking with the INSEAD community

We warmly invite all INSEAD Association members and friends who wish to celebrate International Women’s Day and discover fascinating insights about an amazing, powerful, and one of the most influential women in history - Coco Chanel.

Registration is required and open until 24 March 2026.

About the INSEAD Book Salon
Book Salon was born from one conviction: that the world’s best leaders are also lifelong learners — inspired by ideas that reach far beyond business.
Our mission is to bring together INSEAD alumni in inspiring cultural settings to explore how art and business enrich one another, revealing the creativity at the heart of great leadership. Through books and conversations, we welcome visionary authors and experts in art, design, architecture, fashion, biography, business, travel, and personal growth.
Founded by Elmira Abezivanova (LTF’24) and Aloïs Loizeau (BFC’23), the Book Salon gathers alumni each season in exceptional venues where books and dialogue spark new ways of thinking about leadership, creativity, and innovation.

About La Hune
Founded in 1949 amid the intellectual vibrancy of Paris’s Left Bank, La Hune soon became a historic landmark of postwar culture. Established by Bernard Gheerbrant, a passionate collector and devotee of contemporary literature, it pioneered the concept of the bookstore-gallery, bringing together writers and artists under one roof. Reopened in April 2025 under the initiative of YellowKorner, La Hune has embraced a new artistic direction, transforming into a space entirely devoted to photography.
Nestled in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, it now features a specialized photography bookstore, an upstairs exhibition space, a YellowKorner gallery, and a coffee shop — reaffirming La Hune’s identity as a lively cultural hub dedicated to the art of the image.

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Host or Publisher INSEAD Alumni Association France