Shirley MacLaine to Play Coco Chanel in Miniseries

Shirley MacLaine is set to play Coco Chanel in a Lifetime miniseries about the rise of the fashion icon, starting with her upbringing in an orphanage outside Paris. The first part of the series will examine Ms. Chanel's move to reinvent herself in her 70s, after spending years in exile. The show will premiere in 2008.

Variety reports:

[Director Christian] Duguay said he was intrigued by the story of Chanel, and didn't want to simply make a longform about fashion.

"We've worked hard with it, and turned it into something that is meaningful and worth making an event miniseries," he said. "There's no point in doing it if it won't educate people and entertain, but in an original way. It's a love story, it's a rags-to-riches story, it has some strong social statements about women and about how the world has changed."

According to Duguay, Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld has given his blessing to the miniseries; the famed design house is even working closely with the production to get things right.