RED GARDEN
We arrived at PMQ and met with our guide, who led us to the entrance of the Mademoiselle Privé exhibition, an artistic and contemporary red garden with a pop of white in the centre, where visitors were allowed to stick camellias of white, pink and red onto a white, three-dimensional design covered with the material of translucent lantern paper. The ‘garden’ was in all shades of Chanel’s favourite colour; from vermillion red to burgundy, and showcased some of Chanel’s ideas like the Robot and the falling pearls.
FRAGRANCES
The garden led up to a white chamber, with a contrasting dark interior. Inside, there were copper tinted pipes, linking to five large conical flasks, each containing a different fragrance from raw ingredients; May Rose, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood and Aldehydes. On one side of the wall was a display of ‘CHO’ chemical bonds lit up against the ebony black wall, and on the other side was an elegant drop display of May Rose petals tumbling down.
SAVOIR-FAIRE TWEED SUIT & THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS
We then entered a darkened room with projections of the descriptions of two clothing designs by Chanel; the white savoir-faire tweed suit, and the little black dress. Our guide explained how Chanel would wear all her designs, since the main priority of her clothing is comfort. She also explained how a six panel dress would be more comfortable to wear than a four panel dress, although it is possible to create a dress by doing so.
HAUTE COUTURE DISPLAY
Following that was a twisting hallway made out of beige-white fabric with ‘windows’ cut out, displaying different Chanel haute couture clothing. They were all marvellously designed, but two in particular caught my eye. The first one being the ethereal long sleeved white dress with a wide front cut and lace coming up to the neck. The bottom of the cut had a line of diamond-resembling stones trailing down to the seam of the dress. There were pockets at the hips with lace embroidery. The other was a dark navy suit with a red top, the seams of the suit decorated with white and red.
At the end of the hallway, we were led into a dark room with dresses shown on display in a circle. There was a long streak of light going down the dress, illuminating it and creating an illusion that the dresses were suspended in mid-air. The designs on the dresses were exquisite and true to the title of Haute Couture.
Then, next to the dresses, was a display of the Bijoux de Diamantes collection and there was a moving black cage that held a shimmering chain of diamonds. There were anklets, bracelets, necklaces and body chains, nearly all possessing star-like symbols.
Lastly, we watched a short film of Chanel ‘waking up’ as a ghost in her apartment 40 years after her death and confronting the Head of Creative Direction at Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, with his work during their brief encounter.
Overall I thought the Mademoiselle Privé exhibition was very inspiring; the designs have introduced new ideas for our Couture dress, and I can’t wait to see how it finally turns out.
