A New Chanel Retrospective Shows How the Suit Became Cool
The life of fashion titan Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel takes the runway at the V&A Museum.
A staircase of gowns in the new Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto exhibition.
Photographer: David Parry/V&ALondon’s V&A Museum has been staging blockbuster fashion exhibitions over the past decade: The theatrical and punk “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” show broke attendance records; the museum was open overnight to accommodate demand. And “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams,” with all of its exquisite tulle, taffeta and tailoring, became the museum’s best-attended show of all-time.
”Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto,” which opens on Saturday, Sept. 16, doesn’t quite reach the dazzling heights of those two exhibitions, but it’s a stylish tribute to her work and cultural capital and will be a must-see show for fans. It’s already a box-office smash: Tickets have sold out for much of the rest of the year and are currently available only from mid-December.
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A New Chanel Retrospective Shows How the Suit Became Cool