The V&A has recently announced news of the UK’s first exhibition dedicated to the life and work of fashion designer Coco Chanel. This exciting exhibition will open in September 2023 and explore the iconic designer’s innovative designs, captivating personal history, and extraordinary legacy.
Who Was Coco Chanel?
Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France into a poor family. She grew up to be one of the most influential fashion figures of all time, revolutionising women’s style with her iconic designs and changing the way society viewed fashion forever.
Her career had a modest start, working as a seamstress and cabaret singer, which is where she acquired the nickname “Coco”.
After moving in with her lover, Étienne Balsan, Coco started designing hats. She became a licensed milliner and opened her first hat shop in 1910. Her hats were a huge success, allowing her to expand her fashion business and open a boutique selling luxury casual clothing.
It was here that she began to experiment with simple, tailored clothing for women. She took inspiration from menswear, designing pieces such as the sailor blouse. By 1919, she was registered as a couturière at 31 rue Cambon, Paris, and a few years later she started designing dance costumes for the Russian ballet as well as producing couture collections.
The Chanel couture house closed in 1939 at the outbreak of World War II and Chanel moved to Switzerland but returned in 1954 at the age of 70 to re-open and launch a comeback collection.
Since then, her fashion house and designs have been worn by some of the world’s most famous celebrities, from Audrey Hepburn to Marilyn Monroe. Her iconic designs such as the Chanel tweed suit and the little black dress have earned their place in fashion history.
Chanel bags, first introduced in 1929, also became an enduring classic with their quilted leather and chain straps. These are now some of the most desirable designer items on the market, with vintage pieces selling for thousands of pounds.
Chanel No. 5 Fragrance
In 1920, Chanel commissioned perfumer Ernest Beaux to create a signature scent for her. He created 10 fragrances for her to choose from and she chose No. 5 based on superstition more than the scent (she presented her collections on the 5th of May each year – the fifth month of the year.)
Chanel No. 5 went on to become one of the world’s most iconic and widely-worn fragrances to the current day.
Coco Chanel’s Legacy & the V&A Exhibition
Coco Chanel had a profound impact on fashion, influencing style across generations. Her designs are timeless and her influence is still visible in many of today’s trends.
The upcoming exhibition at the V&A will explore this legacy further and take a closer look at her life and her fashion designs.
The exhibition will feature over 200 looks, including haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, perfumes, and jewellery.
Taking inspiration from the Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto exhibition put on by the Fashion Museum of the City of Paris, rarely-seen pieces will be on display, including one of Chanel’s earliest surviving creations from 1916, the original costumes she created for the Ballets Russes, outfits created for Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich, and pieces from her final collection from 1971.
Exploring Chanel’s life and legacy across ten sections, the exhibition aims to provide a unique insight into Chanel’s influences and impact on fashion:
- Towards A New Elegance gives a peek into the early years of her career as she opened her first boutiques and developed her unique aesthetic.
- The Emergence of a Style follows Chanel through the 1920s and 1930s as she created her signature style, with a focus on the little black dress.
- The Invisible Accessory explores the impact of the Chanel No. 5 perfume, and how it came to symbolise the fashion house.
- Luxury and Line goes deeper into Chanel’s design process and how her styles accentuated the female figure.
- Closing the House takes us up to the outbreak of war and how it impacted Chanel’s career and personal life, picking up in 1954 with Return to Fashion at the relaunch of her fashion house and the comeback collection.
- The Suit explores the iconic Chanel tweed suit and its influence towards a more liberated form of dress.
- Chanel Codes focuses on accessories, including the iconic Chanel handbag.
- Into the Evening looks at more glamorous eveningwear and her 1950s cocktail suits.
- Costume Jewellery shows us how Chanel reinvented costume jewellery as an affordable way to access her style.
- A Timeless Allure is the finale of the exhibition, celebrating Chanel’s classic evening dress and how Coco herself updated and evolved her style right up to her final collection in 1971.
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto opens on 16 September 2023 and runs until 25 February 2024 at The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Tickets will soon be available to buy online at vam.ac.uk/chanel, priced from £24, with concessions at £16.
