Gabrielle Chanel Fashion Manifesto exhibition comes to the V&A

‘Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto’ based on the 2020 Palais Galliera exhibition of the same name, will open at the V&A in September 2023, charting the evolution of Gabrielle Chanel's design style and the establishment of the House of CHANEL, from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the showing of her final collection in 1971.

Set to showcase the “incredible relevance and permanence of the Chanel style,” according to CHANEL’s president of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky, it will bring together over 180 looks with jewellery, accessories, cosmetics and perfumes, drawing from the brand’s archives as well as the collections of the Palais Galliera and the V&A and will feature some rarely seen pieces from the V&A’s collection.

The London exhibition will emphasise the designer’s relationship with British culture, examining her adoption of British textiles like tweed and outfits created for 1950s British model Anne Gunning and Hollywood stars Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich.