January 10, 1971: The End

On January 10, 1971, Coco Chanel died in her suite at the Ritz, aged eighty-seven. She had worked until the end, spending Saturday preparing for the next collection. Her death was discovered Sunday morning by her maid. She died as she had lived for the last decades—alone, surrounded by her possessions, in the hotel that had been her home for fifty years.

The funeral, held at the Church of the Madeleine, drew a crowd that mixed genuine mourners with curious onlookers and fashion professionals understanding they were witnessing history's end. The models from her final show served as pallbearers, a theatrical touch she would have appreciated. She was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland, the country that had sheltered her in exile returning the favor in death.

The immediate question of succession was answered with surprising efficiency. The Wertheimers, now sole owners of the entire Chanel enterprise, appointed Gaston Berthelot to manage design teams. The house continued producing collections based on Chanel's templates, maintaining commercial success if not creative innovation. It would take Karl Lagerfeld's appointment in 1983 to revive creative energy while respecting Chanel's legacy.