✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Fashion

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, V&A review ★★★★★

16 Sep 23 – 25 Feb 24, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Gabrielle Chanel's exhibition at V&A is stunning and inspiring for most of its parts, and makes you want to live back in the 1920s

By Eleonore Dresch on 15/9/2023

32 CW readers are interested
Gabrielle Chanel, fashion manifesto: V&A
Gabrielle Chanel, fashion manifesto: V&A
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, V&A review 4 Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, V&A review Eleonore Dresch
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto is a grand affair. Its opening at the V&A marks the beginning of the European Fashion Week season, and the hype is so high that it is already sold out until December. (Unsurprisingly, it is almost impossible to circulate the exhibition during the press view.)


TICKETS FOR GABRIELLE CHANEL. FASHION MANIFESTO ARE AVAILABLE
HERE

The London version of the exhibition, which first ran at Paris's Palais Galliera two years ago, has been re-imagined by the V&A.
It follows Gabrielle Chanel's career and influence in fashion, from opening her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to showing her final collection in 1971.


More than 200 looks and accessories, from jewellery pieces to bags and perfumes, are on display, some coming from the V&A’s collection. New to the exhibition is also a ‘British angle’, demonstrating Britain's critical influence on Chanel from a business and style perspective.


The beginning of the show is simply stunning. Gabrielle Chanel was her own muse: she sought to design fashion garments that catered to the demands of independent women like herself. And one wants to linger for hours before her 1920s creations (sadly displayed behind glass walls), from the ethereal floral printed numbers to the knitted jumper and tweed skirt or the coat with matching chiffon dress.



Chanel’s streamlined silhouettes feel utterly relevant and modern for a woman of today. It is a wonder that 100 years have passed. Clean lines, fluid material, muted colours – black, white, and beige – fine wool, cotton and tweeds, some ensembles resemble Prada’s AW23 collection strikingly. It is practical, elegant and incredibly cool. It is quiet and luxurious yet miles ahead of today’s quiet luxury. It makes you want to live in the 1920s when modernity was still a dream and meet this young woman who created a style to embody the world finally opening itself up to women.


Like any successful entrepreneur, Gabrielle Chanel’s knack for business matched her creative genius. She soon launched her own perfume – N°5 was created with star perfumier Ernest Baux in 1921 – as well as makeup and skincare products, superbly displayed at the centre of the exhibition with their perfect minimalist packages. They were cleverly conceptualised as an extension of her clothing.



She also opened franchises in foreign countries and created ventures in Britain (she adopted the tweed thanks to a partnership with British textiles firms) and the United States, attracting a young, independent clientele from other capitals. The important link between Chanel and the British high and creative society is perceptible in a video of British ‘it girls’ modelling for the brand. One can see how their liberated confidence was a perfect fit for Chanel.



The peerless craftsmanship is also a constant during the exhibition: from evening gowns to quilted bags, embroidery to jewellery (don’t miss the bijoux diamantes section). Behind the design, Chanel’s strength was in the execution and a firm hold on ‘petites mains’, millner, manufacturers and artisans of exceptional savoir-faire.



It's as the exhibition shifts its focus to the Second World War that it loses momentum. Chanel’s Nazi connections during the French occupation cast a shadow on her reputation and business – despite the recent discovery of papers showing that she had a role in the Resistance from 1943. She bowed out of fashion for over a decade, eventually making a comeback in 1954 at the age of seventy-one.


From then, the designer's avant-garde appeal and genius modernity are less noticeable. The final part of the exhibition, resorting to staging evening dresses, loses its innovative appeal and contemporary relevance.



On the way out, Gabrielle Chanel’s everyday black outfit stays with you: humble and practical, it tells of the toiling and unglamorous hard work behind the legacy of one of the most influential women of the twentieth century who changed fashion forever.




What Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, V&A review
Where V&A, South Kensington, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 2RL | MAP
Nearest tube South Kensington (underground)
When 16 Sep 23 – 25 Feb 24, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Price £N/A
Website Please click here for more information



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend. Jake Shears (Emcee) and Company in Cabaret. Photo: Marc Brenner
Things to do in London this weekend: 1–3 December
Regent Street's angels make a welcome return this festive season
The best of the Christmas lights: London 2023 edition
Rose Leslie and Suranne Jones in Vigil series 2, BBC One (Photo: BBC)
What to watch on TV this week

Editor's Picks

AW2023 trends: Red is the new fashion shade to add to your closet
AW 2023 trends: red is the new fashion shade to add to your closet
Best exhibition in London now
Top exhibitions on now in London
September 2023 Fashion trends
Back-to-school inspiration: autumn/winter 2023 fashion trends
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
32

Fashion exhibitions

must-see exhibitions London

London exhibition 2023

Fashion in London

looking forward

2023



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×