Now open to the public at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto is the first exhibition in Australia to exclusively focus on the significant contribution to twentieth-century fashion culture by the renowned French couturière Gabrielle Chanel (1883–1971).
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto is Presented by the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in partnership with the Palais Galliera, from the preeminent fashion museum of the City of Paris. With more than 230 garments, accessories, and jewellery pieces drawn from the rich holdings of the Palais Galliera and the Patrimoine de CHANEL in Paris, complemented by important loans from major public museums and private collections, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto showcases the impressive breadth of Gabrielle Chanel’s output and her design codes. The Melbourne presentation also features several designs from the NGV Collection, including recent, never-before-seen acquisitions generously gifted by Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family, including an embroidered organdie Evening dress, spring-summer 1933, and spectacular shirred red silk velvet and marabou-lined Evening cape, c. 1924–26.
The Gabrielle Chanel exhibition will take any Fashion enthusiast’s breath away. Gabrielle was creatively ahead of her time and without doubt the greatest and most influential designer of the 20th century.
The intricate details and embellishments on the designs, showcased at the exhibition are truly mesmerising, and we can see up close as to why the French Fashion icon created designs of modernity, that are still fashionable today.
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is most famous for her suiting with attention to every detail, including fabrics from wool and silk blends, hand-woven tweeds, and mohair. Buttonholes are hand embroidered and the famous contrasting trims that help with the structure of the suiting can be seen throughout the signature suiting showcase.
The Chanel Suiting, in particular, is my favourite part of the exhibition, exemplifying simplicity, why less is more, and that superior craftsmanship will always stand the test of time.
Suit Jacket and Skirt AW – 1960-61 tweed, fringed wool braid, silk pongee 
Suit 1960 Burg wool, wool braid, silk pongee, gilt metal
Dress with removable cuffs – 1965
Coat – Spring Summer 1961 tweed, silk shantung 
Suit comprising Jacket, Skirt and Blouse – Spring Summer 1966
Suit – Spring Summer 1970 tweed gilt metal
Unfolding across several chronological and thematic sections, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto explores Chanel’s design codes through a visually arresting and sumptuous display of more than 100 garments that trace her remarkable career. These are placed alongside her innovations in perfume, jewellery, and accessory design.
Highlights include early examples of her use of black to connote modernity and chic; delicate lace gowns; wool jersey and tailored tweed suits; dazzling beaded garments; and bold costume jewellery. The survey offers audiences an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate Chanel’s significant impact on the development of womenswear throughout the twentieth century, and to consider the legacy of her designs in contemporary culture.
National Gallery of Victoria
180 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004
T: +61 3 8620 2237
F: +61 3 8620 2555
https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-Wurrung People as the Traditional Owners of the land on which the NGV is built.
Written by Melinda Sullivan in association with NGV
Images Sam Tabone
