V&A to celebrate Coco Chanel with new exhibition

London's Victoria & Albert Museum is hosting its first UK exhibition dedicated to the work of French couturière Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel, opening in September 2023. 

The exhibition will feature over 180 looks, as well as jewellery, accessories, cosmetics and perfumes.

Curated by Paris’s Palais Galliera and re-imagined for the V&A, the exhibition will explore Chanel's design style and the establishment of the House of Chanel, from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the showing of her final collection in 1971.

The venue will also include "rarely seen" pieces from the V&A’s collection, alongside looks from Palais Galliera and the Patrimoine de Chanel, the heritage collections of the fashion house in Paris.

Key pieces on display will also include outfits created for British model Anne Gunning (later Lady Nutting) and Hollywood stars Lauren Bacall and Marlene Dietrich.

Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said:"As one of the most successful fashion houses in existence, Chanel owes much to the templates first laid down by its founder Gabrielle Chanel, over a century ago. We are delighted to be partnering with Chanel and the Palais Galliera on this exhibition, which provides us with the opportunity to explore the origins and elements of this enduring style and to display little-known historic Chanel garments from the V&A collection."