The Victoria and Albert Museum is hosting the first UK exhibition dedicated to Coco Chanel. Opening later this year, the showcase will explore “the evolution of her iconic design style and the establishment of the House of CHANEL, from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris to the showing of her final collection”
Following the success of Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear — the Victoria & Albert Museum show diving into the history of masculine sartorial self-expression — the London’s art and culture institution is back with yet another exhibition inspired by a fashion pioneer, French couturière Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel.
Presented in partnership with Palais Galliera, Paris Fashion Museum, and Paris Musées, the major survey will be the first UK showcase to trace the decades-long career of mademoiselle Coco Chanel from the early days of her 1910 millinery boutique all the way to her final fashion show in 1971.
Drawing on more than 180 different looks especially curated for the occasion of the exhibition, the show will delve into the heritage of the French Maison by reviving the key moments that gave birth to Coco Chanel’s iconic design style and The House of CHANEL altogether.
Along their way through the museum, visitors will be presented with garments as well as jewellery, accessories, cosmetics, and perfumes in what will be a thorough exploration of the designer’s rule-breaking approach to fashion. An ode to the inestimable legacy of Coco Chanel, the showcase wants to emphasise how her revolutionary vision lives on today through the designers she inspired and the generations that are yet to come.
“Gabrielle Chanel devoted her long life to creating, perfecting, and promoting a new kind of elegance based on freedom of movement, a natural and casual pose, a subtle elegance that shuns all extravagances, a timeless style for a new kind of woman,” said Miren Arzalluz, Director of the Palais Galliera, in a statement released ahead of the launch of the exhibition.
