The first UK exhibition dedicated to the Frenchwoman's work arrives couturière, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, tracing the evolution of its iconic design style and the founding of the House of Chanel, from the opening of its first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the presentation of its final collection in 1971.
Featuring nearly 200 looks seen together for the first time, as well as accessories, perfumes and jewelry, the exhibition explores Chanel's pioneering approach to fashion design, which pioneered a new elegance and continues to influence the way we that women dress today.
The “Fashion Manifesto” exhibition features rarely seen pieces from the V&A collection
Highlights include one of the earliest surviving Chanel garments from 1916; original costumes designed by Chanel for the Ballets Russes' production of Le Train Bleu in 1924; outfits created for Hollywood stars Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich; an early example of Chanel's innovative evening trousers and suits Chanel's final collection from 1971.
Chanel designed first and foremost for herself
By creating clothes suitable for independent living and an active lifestyle, he anticipated the needs and desires of the modern woman. Up to ten thematic sections, the exhibition explores Chanel's innovative approach to fabric and silhouette and construction, and will examine how she drafted a new framework for fashion in the XNUMXth century. It features a stunning range of some of Chanel's most notable designs
Through ten sections, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto showcases the exquisite skill and innovation from the founder of the House of CHANEL: Towards A New Elegance offers an introduction to Gabrielle Chanel's early career as a milliner, opening her first boutique on rue Cambon in Paris in 1910, and other boutiques in the fashionable coastal resorts of Deauville and Biarritz. IL The section illustrates how the success of this business has allowed it to expand into the clothing sector. She will feature one of the first surviving Chanel garments, characterized by minimalism and precision: a streamlined way of dressing that contrasted with the overly decorative fashions of the era and would lay the foundations of her design principles.
The Emergence of a Style focuses on how Chanel developed an instantly identifiable distinctive style in the 20s and 30s. With clean lines, flowing materials and a simplistic color palette, her designs were understated yet radical in their practicality and displayed a refined elegance. Several subsections will also examine the role of textiles and production, the use of embroidery in her designs and highlights those of Chanel's famous little black dress. This section also includes Chanel's British influences and business ventures and her creations worn on the theater stage and silver screen.
Gabrielle Chanel perfume N°5
The invisible accessory showcases the creation and impact of the debut of which has become the best-selling perfume in the world. Designed as an extension of her dresses and echoing her vision of modernity, Chanel made N°5 the signature of her fashion house. This section will also explore the launch of Chanel's make-up range in 1924 and skin care in 1927. Visitors will walk through a gold-coloured salon installation which references the iconic No°5 perfume bottle.
Luxury and Line focuses on how Chanel's evening dresses demonstrated a refined mix of inventiveness and classicism that subtly accentuated the female form. She harmonized proportions and materials with the aim of creating garments expressive elegance, freedom and simplicity. The resulting designs conveyed the tension between garment and body, described in French as “allure.” This section will also look at “Diamond Jewelry”, his first and only collection of high jewelery commissioned in 1932 by the International Diamond Corporation of London.
The exhibition will continue with Chanel's Official Return to Fashion on February 5, 1954, with the relaunch of her fashion house at the age of seventy-one. Chanel's comeback collection featured the hallmarks she had so successfully introduced in the 20s and 30s, representing her updated vision of the modern woman's wardrobe.
The dress will highlight the garment that defines Gabrielle Chanel's post-war contribution to fashion, with over fifty ensembles in a range of colors displayed across two levels. A statement of her vision of modern femininity, the Chanel dress combined ease and comfort with simplicity and style. Described by Vogue in 1964 as “the world's most beautiful uniform,” the Chanel dress, which has since become a timeless classic, remains a staple reference for fashion today.
Chanel Codes will focus on how accessories were central to Chanel's conception of a harmonious silhouette. They reflected her pragmatic vision of fashion and she provided recognizable codes that underlined the unity of her style. Since the 2.55s, the Chanel XNUMX bag and two-tone slingback shoes have become two of the most popular enduring accessories in the fashion world.
Into the Evening features evening wear as an important part of Chanel's couture collections in the latter part of her career. From the late XNUMXs onwards she adapted her dresses to include a range for wear into the evening. These cocktail dresses followed the same form as her day dresses, made in a myriad of richly decorative fabrics such as gold and silver lamé, structured weaves and intricately patterned silks. This section draws inspiration from the golden color palette and black lacquered coromandel screens of Chanel's apartment.
The costume jewelery will explore this essential part of Gabrielle Chanel's signature style. By rejecting the conventions of high jewelry, Chanel gave costume jewelry a new status. From the early 20s, Chanel boutiques offered an astonishing range of costume jewelry to wear with her elegant and fashionable pieces. That of the couturière costume jewelery draws inspiration from many places and historical eras.
A Timeless Allure – the exhibition finale – celebrates evening wear like Chanel's exercised in style with looks displayed in a recreation of the iconic mirrored staircase based in the designer's atelier. She proposed a relaxed version of the formal dress that was both discreet and refined, revisiting the fundamentals that had governed her aesthetic and punctuated her career. This section will show that until her final collection of Spring-Summer 1971, Gabrielle Chanel reinterpreted, updated and perfected her rules and principles, continually refining her style par excellence
