Fashion Statement: Gabrielle Chanel Stays True to Her Style
2024-08-07
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After three or four years of preparation, the first retrospective of Gabrielle Chanel's works in China, "Fashion Manifesto | Gabrielle Chanel", flew from Paris to Shanghai, opening the last stop of the global tour, showing the unique style of Gabrielle Chanel, who was independent, confident and creative, with both flexibility and strength, and thus opened up a new path for elegant women. The works are concentrated in her two peak periods of creation, the first time period is from 1910 to 1939, and the second time period is from her comeback after World War II in 1954 until her death in 1971. The exhibition displays more than 200 works, including fashion, accessories, historical archives, etc., which are divided into 9 sections for display. One of the precious wedding dresses is exhibited to the public for the first time.
When we talk about Chanel, we think of her gorgeous clothes and legendary life. But if we go back to the beginning of the story, what question did she answer with her life? At the beginning of the exhibition hall, there is a silhouette of a portrait. Its prototype, the navy collar blouse, was a blockbuster in the fashion world at that time and one of the most influential women's clothing designs in the 1910s and 1920s. At that time, most women in the upper class wore very close-fitting clothes, and they either carried a small bag themselves or had servants carry it. At that time, the action of putting hands in pockets was considered very masculine, and only men's clothing had functional pockets. But after the First World War, everyone started to work and began to speed up their urban life. At this time, independent women also began to have some needs to place some things they carried with them, so Chanel added pockets to women's clothing. The fabric used in this dress is called Jersey knitted fabric. At that time, it was used as underwear fabric or special sportswear fabric, but Ms. Chanel broke the conventions of the time and applied this fabric to the high-end women's custom-made industry. The question she answered with her life may be that only true freedom and true loyalty to oneself can be truly elegant.
The navy collar cardigan laid the foundation for her breakthrough elegant style with its simple and natural "relaxed feeling". After that, she further abandoned all unnecessary decorations, used neat and restrained lines, matched with smooth and flowing monochrome fabrics, reconstructed the fashion interpretation of "black and white", and created the instantly recognizable Chanel classic work - the little black dress, making black, a color that was often associated with mourning and mourning at the time, become a fashionable color in modern times.
In the 1930s, mainstream society still preferred real high-end jewelry, but Chanel quietly launched a fashion revolution with the new concept of "costume jewelry". She would also choose to wear some styling accessories that combined real jewelry with imitation jewelry to match her daily outfit. After the baptism of World War II, the "New Look" fashion that revived the old female silhouette became popular in 1954. At that time, Ms. Chanel, who had retired for more than ten years, was over 70 years old, but she still chose to stand on the opposite side of the trend and launched the culmination of her creative rules - the Chanel suit, which was more in line with the free spirit pursued by modern women, more convenient for activities, and more suitable for any life scene.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, looking back on this Fashion Manifesto is also looking back on the independent journey of modern Western women, and looking forward to this unswerving pursuit of ideals blooming in the new generation of Chinese designers and women. From now until November 24, at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai, explore the universe of Gabrielle Chanel's timeless style and launch your own fashion manifesto.
Editor: Yu Ruijuan
Editor: Yu Ruijuan
