Business Dealings During Wartime

Chanel's business activities during the occupation reveal a pattern of attempted exploitation of wartime circumstances for personal gain. The most significant episode involved her attempt to use Nazi "Aryanization" laws to wrest control of Parfums Chanel from the Wertheimer family, her Jewish business partners who had fled to America when France fell.

The perfume business had been Chanel's greatest frustration since the 1924 agreement that gave the Wertheimers 70% control. She had spent years in legal battles trying to alter this arrangement. The Nazi occupation and its anti-Semitic laws seemed to offer an opportunity. In 1941, she wrote to German authorities claiming that Parfums Chanel was "still the property of Jews" and should be "Aryanized" with herself as the rightful Aryan owner.

The Wertheimers, however, had anticipated such moves. Before fleeing France, they had legally transferred ownership of Parfums Chanel to Félix Amiot, a French Christian businessman who held the company in trust. This legal maneuver frustrated Chanel's attempts to use Nazi laws for her benefit. The episode reveals her willingness to exploit anti-Semitic legislation for personal gain, regardless of the human cost to the Wertheimers.

Throughout the occupation, Chanel continued to receive income from perfume sales, though at reduced levels. Chanel No. 5 remained popular among German officers and French women who could afford luxury goods. Some accounts suggest Chanel personally sold perfume to German officials from her Ritz suite, though these stories may be apocryphal. What is documented is that she maintained her lifestyle without apparent financial hardship during years when most Parisians struggled for survival.

Her decision to keep the couture house closed while maintaining perfume income appears strategic rather than principled. By not actively producing fashion during the occupation, she avoided some forms of collaboration while preserving her business assets. This calculated approach—minimizing direct collaboration while maximizing personal advantage—characterized her wartime behavior.