The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is gearing up for a summer of style with the announcement of its next blockbuster exhibition, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto.
Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson visited the NGV today to announce the gallery's next major summer exhibition which will see more visitors returning to the heart of Melbourne's CBD.
Opening in December, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, will be the first exhibition in Australia to exclusively focus on the significant contribution renowned French couturière Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (1883-1971) made to 20th century fashion and culture.
Curated by Paris' famous fashion museum, the Palais Galliera, and featuring loans from the House of Chanel's heritage department, and major public museums and private collections across the globe, the exhibition will showcase more than 100 garments tracing Chanel's career alongside her innovations in perfume, jewellery, and accessory design. Considered to be one of the world's most influential fashion designers, Gabrielle Chanel opened her first fashion boutique in Deauville, France in 1912, then launched her couture house in Paris in 1918.
In response to the growing desire for greater social freedoms among women in the 1920s, Chanel created a new code of dress that emphasised comfort, function and elegance. Drawing inspiration from menswear and sportswear, Chanel pioneered trousers and tailored suiting for women, and championed the 'little black dress'.
The exhibition will offer audiences an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate Chanel's significant impact on the development of womenswear throughout the twentieth century, and to consider how her designs continue to inspire the designers of today.
Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto premiered in Paris at the Palais Galliera in autumn 2020. The NGV season will also feature several designs from the NGV's own collection, including recent, never-before-seen acquisitions generously gifted by Melbourne philanthropist Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family. Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will be on display at NGV International, Melbourne, from 5 December 2021 - 25 April 2022. For more information or to book tickets, visit ngv.melbourne
Victoria is the cultural and creative capital of our nation and the Government's unprecedented investment of $288 million will secure the immediate future of the industry and make sure our creative offering is world class for decades to come.
As stated by Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson
"Victorians will have the opportunity to experience Parisian culture and fashion right here in Melbourne, taking a little piece of Paris home with them."
"Exhibitions of this calibre attract visitors from right across the nation, boosting local tourism right in the heart of our CBD and adding to Victoria's standing as the creative state."
"Melbournians love their fashion so it is fitting that 'Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto' makes its international debut right here in Melbourne after its opening in Paris."
