Before she became a legend, she was a girl with nothing to lose.

Raised in a convent after being abandoned by her father, Gabrielle Chanel knows exactly what poverty costs. Standing outside the orphanage gates in borrowed clothes, she makes a vow: she will never be powerless again.

When her gift for sewing attracts the attention of wealthy cavalry officer Étienne Balsan, Gabrielle gains entry into a world of privilege she could never have imagined. Yet comfort comes with expectations, and life as a kept woman threatens to become another prison. Then she meets Arthur “Boy” Capel—ambitious, charismatic, and one of the few men who believes her vision matters.

Together they leave for Paris, where Gabrielle dares to challenge everything society expects of women. With Boy’s financial backing and her revolutionary eye for design, she launches a small millinery shop that quickly captures the attention of the city’s fashionable elite. Her creations are daring in their simplicity: elegant hats, relaxed silhouettes, and clothing designed for movement rather than restriction. As World War I transforms Europe, her designs help redefine modern femininity—and Gabrielle Chanel becomes Coco Chanel.

But fame has a price.

As her influence grows, Coco moves among artists, aristocrats, industrialists, and royalty, building a global fashion empire through sheer force of will. Yet every triumph demands a sacrifice. Love, loyalty, freedom—even the truth of who she once was—become bargaining chips in her relentless pursuit of success.

This is LA MODISTE by Renée K. Nicholson, a sweeping work of historical fiction that peels back the legend of Coco Chanel to reveal the ambitious, complicated woman beneath. It is the story of a girl who escaped poverty, reinvented fashion, and paid a devastating personal price to become one of the most influential women of the twentieth century.

We are tellement excité to bring you this riveting story about an incomparable legend next year.  Stay tuned for more news about this title, including a cover reveal. For now, you can show your early support by preordering the book HERE from the Type Eighteen Books store!

Renée K. Nicholson is a writer whose work spans poetry, essays, and fiction. She’s the author of seven books, including the poetry collection Feverdream and the memoir-in-essays Fierce and Delicate. A voting member of the National Book Critics Circle and a 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the Château d’Orquevaux in France, Renée lives in Morgantown, West Virginia.