Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto

Beautiful exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at the work of Gabrielle Chanel.

I found the pieces in this show stunning and the narrative it built excellent, but I do have some criticism on the layout. The show is a sell out and so is very busy, particularly as I think people are becoming  members in order to get in.

The layout is innovative but not for the numbers it is catering for, so the early section, which is laid out charmingly like small shop fronts, is very cramped. It becomes nearly impossible to read the information boards. I had done an online lecture on the show so could live without the boards but it was annoying, as was the showing of films in such narrow spaces that they caused bottle necks. While I’m moaning I’ll also add that the glass cases where too reflective so at times, particularly if a film was running nearby it was difficult to see the clothes.

Moaning over because the clothes themselves were stunning. It was amazing to see so many items from the 1920s and 30s in such beautiful condition. I loved the simplicity of line yet the exquisite attention to detail.

It was a clever idea to have a corridor between the two halves with the small amount of confused information on Chanel in the Second World War to divide up the two quite different styles. I loved the room of suits shown in two layers. It made you realise both the similarity and differences.

Favourite piece? This leather coat with a woven leather bottom which I assumed was tweed from a distance. It would be a statement piece even now.

Closes 25 February 2024


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