Paris, 1938. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli are fighting for recognition as the most successful and influential fashion designer in France, and their rivalry is already legendary. Chanel's designs are classic, elegant, and practical; Schiaparelli's bold, experimental, and surreal. Lily Cooper, a recently widowed American teacher, travels to Paris to visit her brother, Charlie. He insists on buying her a couture dress for her birthday: a Chanel. Lily agrees but wants a Schiaparelli, not a Chanel. Charlie's Jewish girlfriend, Ania, one of the most beautiful and prominent women in Paris, begins wearing Schiap's designs as well, and soon much of Paris is following in her footsteps. Schiap offers Lily, a budding artist, a job at her shop. -- adapted from jacket