Couture collaborator COCO CHANEL'S DARK HISTORY

The French fashionista’s war crimes have been revealed in a new book

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Coco Chanel will always be known as the queen of chic- the French orphan who toiled her way out of poverty to become one of the world's greatest fashion designers.

Ever since the end of World War II, however, stories have swirled about her collaboration with the Nazis.

Now, a new book using recently declassified French Resistance documents has shed even more light on what the Parisian fashion powerhouse did during the war. And the reality is a far cry from the elegance of a timeless Chanel tweed suit.

When the German army overran Paris in June 1940, Coco was 57 and well established as a fashion icon. The world was at her feet, and she counted the likes of Pablo Picasso and Sir Winston Churchill as personal friends.

While other elite Parisians fled the French capital before the Nazis arrived, Coco stood her ground, checking into the Ritz, which was soon to become the Luftwaffe HQ.