Fashion: Paris hosts its first retrospective on Gabrielle Chanel

View of the first Parisian retrospective on Gabrielle Chanel's work at the Palais Galliera, “Manifeste de Mode”.

© Silvano Mendes / RFI

Text by: Silvano Mendes

6 min

From October 1, 2020 to March 14, 2021, the Palais Galliera will host the first Parisian retrospective on the work of Gabrielle Chanel.

Entitled "Fashion Manifesto", the event celebrates the talent of the seamstress who freed women and marks the reopening of the museum, closed for more than two years for renovations.

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The flagship event of Paris Fashion Week which started on Monday, September 28, takes place far from the catwalks.

First because the restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic have pushed several brands and houses to present their collections virtually, but above all because the high point of the season - even that of the year - is the first retrospective on the work of Gabrielle Chanel, which opened on Thursday.  

Coco Chanel is one of the most legendary figures in the history of fashion.

Between the different stories about her childhood, of which she liked to change the versions according to her interlocutor, her epic loves, her relationship with great artists and even suspicions of espionage during the war, she had a romantic life, which gave rise to to many books and has inspired more than one filmmaker.

But as strange as it may seem, Paris has never hosted a real retrospective of the work of the woman who, for a long time, embodied a certain idea of ​​the Parisienne.  

The one who helped free women

In 2013, the Palais de Tokyo devoted an exhibition to its iconic perfume,

, and numerous events were organized to highlight the talent of Karl Lagerfeld, who signed the house's collections for 36 years. , from 1983 until her death in 2019. But there was a lack of an exhibition commensurate with the one that helped liberate women, not only through the elimination of corsets, but also through the use of jersey and adaptation. from certain pieces of the male wardrobe to the female wardrobe.  

Now it's done.

On a tour of more than 350 pieces from the collections of the Palais Galliera, as well as from several museums around the world, private collections and the archives of the fashion house, it is possible to see or review the extent of Coco's work. , from his beginnings as a milliner in 1910, already at 21 rue Cambon, his emblematic address, until his death in 1971. As Bruno Pavlovsky, president of the fashion house of Chanel, explains, it is to put forward “ 

 ”.

View of the first Parisian retrospective on Gabrielle Chanel's work at the Palais Galliera, “Manifeste de Mode”.

© Silvano Mendes / RFI

The codes of an iconic house 

Throughout the rooms, we witness the evolution of his style, between day outfits, evening dresses and, of course, the little black dress and the tweed suit, pieces that have become his trademark.

The sets worn by Marlene Dietrich or by Princess Paola of Belgium give the slightly people side of the exhibition, where we also see photographs, paintings, sketches and scenes from films, such as 

 by Alain Resnais, whose Delphine Seyrig dresses were designed by Gabrielle Chanel.

Without forgetting Coco's passion for costume jewelry, which brings sparkle to a rather sober scenography - in tune with the idea of ​​“ 

 ” claimed by the curators.   

The exhibition is aimed at both neophytes and fashion experts, but the educational bias is visible.

As in a part of the route which presents the codes of the house: the two-tone pumps, whose use of beige lengthens the leg and the black toe shortens the foot, the pearls that completed the looks, or the quilted bag so copied since its creation in 1955. Inescapable elements which sum up the DNA of the brand and are reinterpreted until today by Virginie Viard, artistic director who took up the torch of the house after Karl's death.

Moreover, the exhibition is also a sort of "Chanel master class" for those who forget that the house had one before the passage of the Kaiser and its spectacular parades at the Grand Palais.   

The renovation of the Palais Galliera, a titanic project

The event is also an opportunity to see the result of the renovation of the Palais Galliera, which has more than doubled its exhibition area following the work carried out thanks to the support of the house of Chanel (which is also financing part of the renovation of the Grand Palace).

The new rooms of the museum were created in the vaulted cellars of the building, showcased in a titanic project, which once again shows the striking power of large luxury groups in the art world.

View of the first Parisian retrospective on Gabrielle Chanel's work at the Palais Galliera, “Manifeste de Mode”.

© Silvano Mendes / RFI

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