Coco Chanel was a pioneer in the world of fashion, single-handedly defining an era of style with her classic, timeless designs. 

Her designs called into question the role of sex and power, and redefined what it was to dress as a woman in the process. And, from the classic little black dress to that iconic amber perfume, we are still falling over ourselves to get our mitts on her work all these years later.

It is important, though, to separate the woman from the global fashion house, as Coco was an extraordinary and colourful character – even if she has been quoted into cliché with (probably misattributed) soundbites such as, “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”

Is it any wonder, then, that her life is the focus of a new BBC documentary?

“Born into a rural peasant background in the 19th century and brought up in an orphanage run by nuns, Chanel went on to become one of the wealthiest women of her age through a combination of grit, graft and talent, arguably becoming the first ever influencer,” reveals the official synopsis for Arena: Coco Chanel Unbuttoned.

Dancing around the fact that she had a relationship with Nazi officer Hans Günther von Dincklage during the Second World War, the synopsis continues: “She defied convention in her wardrobe and her personal life: notorious for the string of glamorous lovers and yet wary of telling her story.”

With Sophie Marceau acting as the voice of Coco Chanel, the documentary – which is directed by Hannah Berryman – features interviews with the people who knew her well, including her model-muse, Jackie Rogers, and her long-term assistant, Lilou Grumbach Marquand.

Chanel’s biographers (that’s Justine Picardie, Rhonda Garelick and Valerie Steele, if you’re wondering) also appear in the documentary, along with Jerry Hall and Georgia May Jagger.

It remains to be seen, though, whether or not the series will explore the evidence published in Hal Vaughan’s book, Sleeping With The Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War, that claims the designer wasn’t just romantically involved with a Nazi officer: she shared his far-right ideologies and was involved in Nazi missions, too.

Arena: Coco Chanel Unbuttoned will drop via BBC Two on 15 September at 9pm.

Images: BBC/Whynow/Alamy/Getty