The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) officially opened the Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto exhibition over the weekend.
The exhibition has made its international debut at the NGV, celebrating and documenting the influence Chanel's design had on modern fashion.
More than 230 garments, accessories and jewellery pieces feature throughout the exhibition, across chronological and thematic sections.
Visit Victoria CEO Brendan McClements welcomed the opening of the exhibition.
"Fashion lovers from around the country will flock to Melbourne for this exclusive exhibition of Chanel works, straight from its debut in Paris to Australia’s very own fashion capital," he said.
During the opening weekend, visitors heard from NGV’s fashion and textile curators and fashion industry experts, including in the three-part talk series, Chanel in Context, which placed the designs in their historical, social and cultural contexts, exploring the language and iconography of Chanel's designs.
"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," Palais Galliera director and co-curator of the exhibition Miren Arzalluz said.
"That was her fashion manifesto, a legacy that has never gone out of style.
"Gabrielle Chanel’s success was based not only on the functionality, comfort and chic elegance of her designs, but also on her ability to grasp and interpret the needs and desires of the women of her time," she said.
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto is on display at NGV International, Melbourne, from 4 December 2021 – 25 April 2022.
