Coco Chanel: A life on camera

Audrey Tautou plays Coco Chanel in a new film, Coco Avant Chanel. The fashion designer has long been a source of fascination to filmmakers Photograph: Sony Pictures Classics

Anna Mouglalis plays Coco in another 2009 biopic: Chanel and Stravinsky, The Secret Story Photograph: Regine Abadia/Eurowide Productions/AP

Shirley MacLaine takes on the role in a recent TV biopic Photograph: Lifetime/Everett/Rex Features

Katharine Hepburn played the designer way back in 1969, in the musical Coco Photograph: AP

A fresh-faced Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel herself, in 1907 Photograph: PA/PA

Another youthful portrait, c.1920 Photograph: Pictures Inc./Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image

Style advice from 1926: always wear your het at a jaunty angle Photograph: Corbis

The androgynous look works well here, should you ever be stuck for an outfit when boar-hunting with a British prime minister Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty

Quilting isn't just for handbags, as Coco shows in 1929 Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty

Working the statement pearls in 1936 Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty Images/Lipnitzki

Don't ditch the pearls just because you're lounging on the beach with a duke. Simply team with wide-legged trousers and a sailor hat Photograph: Time Life Pictures/Getty

Smoking was very stylish in 1936 Photograph: Lipnitzki/Roger Viollet/Getty

The trademark Chanel jacket makes an appearance in 1937 Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty Images/Lipnitzki

Striking a pose in 1937 in a chic, tightly belted one-piece Photograph: Roger Viollet/Lipnitzki/Getty Images

Spectacles add a studious look, but the jewellery prevents this 1938 outfit from looking dull Photograph: Roger Schall/Corbis

Relaxing in classic black and white, c.1940 Photograph: Roland Schoor/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

A day at the races in the 1960s - a simple scarf keeps out the chill Photograph: Sharok Hatami/Rex Features

Coco gives an early lesson in layering Photograph: Sharok Hatami/Rex Features

Still hard at work in the 1960s Photograph: Rex Features

Someone forgot the jaunty hat rule Photograph: Rex Features

Dark glasses are a must for incognito travel Photograph: Douglas Kirkland/Corbis

A suitably regal pose for the queen of couture Photograph: Hatami/Rex Features

In the last year of her life, Coco was as stylish as ever Photograph: Forum/Rex Features

More than 1,000 people viewed Coco's last collection on 26 January 1971. She died on 10 January, the day after she had put the finishing touches to her spring/summer collection Photograph: AP