Palais Galliera Uncovers the Dress Codes of Chanel’s Fashion Manifesto

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In honor of its much-anticipated reopening this week, the Palais Galliera debuts its latest exhibition, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. Formally known as the City of Paris Fashion Museum, the institution’s showcase celebrates the fashion history and artistry of French style legend “Coco” Chanel. Highlighting more than 350 exceptional pieces, the show features both signature and rare examples of her revolutionary design work from the museum archives, as well as collections around the world. The exhibition discovers Chanel’s ground-breaking approach as a “fashion manifesto” that would forever impact the world of style.

“We believe that the enduring significance of Gabrielle Chanel’s work lies in the timeless premises that are inherent to her aesthetic: ideas of comfort and naturality, distinction and refinement that are perfectly balanced in her creations,” Miren Arzalluz, director of Palais Galliera and curator of the exhibition, tells CR. “Her designs intimately link function and form, avoiding all unnecessary adornment. This results in the legendary allure of Chanel.”

Organized into two parts, the exhibition begins with a chronological view of Chanel’s design history, from her early work of the 1910s to her last collection of 1971. The pieces shown reveal the key concepts of her vision of fashion: the 1916 marinière sailor blouse; innovative looks in jersey fabrics; little black dresses and sporty designs of the Roaring Twenties; sophisticated dresses of the 1930s; and an entire room dedicated to Chanel’s hallmark scent, Chanel N° 5. Ten portraits of the designer accompany the ten chapters of the presentation, illustrating just how fully Chanel herself embodied the spirit of the fashion house.

The second installment of the exhibition is themed around the designer’s ongoing vision and signature dress codes—the tweed suit, two-tone pumps, the 2.55 quilted bag, color combinations of black and beige, and red, white, and gold, as well as a range of jewelry styles. These looks lend to what was in fact Chanel’s “fashion manifesto”—subtle elegance through movement, a relaxed and authentic attitude, fine attention to detail, and a timeless sense of modern femininity—demonstrating what has made the fashion house an inimitable presence for more than a century.

Born Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel (1883 – 1971) in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France, the designer forged her own path from her youngest years, reinventing convention and reimagining new traditions. Her very humble beginnings, which included poverty and time spent in an orphanage, likely endowed her with the savvy and resourcefulness that later defined her as a businesswoman. Her first fashion undertakings were as a seamstress and then, as a milliner. During this time, to support herself, she also had a brief stint as a cabaret singer—where she acquired the nickname “Coco” that would become part of the house’s interlocking C’s logo, a visual symbol of both her style and identity.

It was in 1910 that the designer opened her initial Chanel Modes hat shop at the famed 31 Rue Cambon address in Paris’ central fashion district. Then, three years later, she opened a boutique in Deauville, followed by her next venture in Biarritz, on the Côte Basque. By 1918, she had expanded her Parisian outpost to include clothing, accessories, and later, jewelry, and in 1924, she debuted her landmark Chanel N° 5 perfume. A deep love of design also led Chanel into costuming for the Ballets Russes, French cinema, and Hollywood’s MGM stars, including Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, who went on to become the designer’s private clients.

In 1939, with the onset of WWII, Chanel felt that the period was not a time for fashion and she closed her boutiques. Once the war ended, she revived the house in 1954 with a new design approach, eschewing the corseted styles of the times for a casual chic—emphasizing comfort and function, and often taking cues from menswear—to create a practical and beautiful aesthetic. In opting for style sophistication over opulence, detail and accessories added her requisite flair. Chanel continued to create in her hallmark of ease and elegance until the time of her passing in 1971. Her visionary torch was then carried forward by her successor, Karl Lagerfeld and most recently, the house’s current creative director, Virgine Viard. Far beyond its founder’s lifetime, the House of Chanel’s impact on fashion history remains as present as ever.

“[Chanel] holds a special place in the world of Haute Couture; she had a radical vision of the way women dress, understanding the needs and aspirations of the women of her time,” Arzalluz says. “She conceived garments that ensure freedom of movement, as well as sophisticated elegance; she promoted her own idea of luxury for women, which resides in subtle and often unseen details.”

One of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Gabrielle Chanel is an eminent figure in the world of fashion. Hers is a story of perseverance and achievement for a woman far ahead of her era, who accepted no bounds for what her vision could accomplish. Fashion Manifesto reveals the underpinnings to her approach for design and living, graceful and effortless in its refinement. Here Chanel is revealed as a true legend of style for her time—and for all time.

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto is on view at the Palais Galliera in Paris until March 14, 2021.

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