Karl Lagerfeld creates new sketches for The Allure of Chanel Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld has added new sketches to The Allure of Chanel by Paul Morand Karl Lagerfeld has created dozens of new sketches for The Allure of Chanel written by Paul Morand. The German designer, who is creative director of French fashion house Chanel, has added numerous illustrations of the late Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel and her closest friends for a new edition of the book, published by Pushkin Press. Morand's book fuses Chanel's rebellious spirit along with illuminating portraits of her friends including Igor Stravinsky, Picasso, Jean Cocteau. He wrote the book after meeting Coco Chanel in a hotel in St Moritz. As they spent several evenings conversing together at length, Morand would scrawl notes on their discussions and his immediate impressions when he returned to his room. When he rediscovered his notes years later, he found that his vivid scribblings brought the mercurial and famously reclusive Chanel to life. L'Allure de Chanel was first published in French in 1976. Today's is a 205-page paperback featuring 73 illustrations by Karl Lagerfeld, available from November 4, priced £30.