On 12 July, the hotly anticipated Shanghai leg of the exhibition Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto finally opened to the public at the Power Station of Art (上海当代艺术博物馆) in Huangpu, Shanghai. The exhibition will last until 24 November this year. On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto exhibition” (#香奈儿时尚宣言展#) quickly gained an impressive 17.03 million views.
Co-hosted by Palais Gallier of Paris, the exhibition is a major retrospective of the life and work of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, the founder of the luxury fashion house named after her. The exhibition is divided into two chapters, one focuses on Chanel’s work between the 1910s and 1930s, the other on her return to fashion between 1954 and 1971. With over 200 displays including iconic pieces, historical artefacts and video clips. The exhibition started in Paris back in 2020 and travelled to Melbourne, Tokyo and London before landing in Shanghai.
The opening event was attended by celebrities such as Chinese actress Zhou Xun, supermodel Liu Wen, singer Leah Dou and actors Jing Boran and Wang Yibo and many more, as well as British actress Tilda Swinton despite the rain. In fact, Chanel has released a promotional video for the Shanghai exhibition featuring brand ambassadors such as Zhou Xun, Wang Yibo, Nana Komatsu, Tilda Swinton and Naomi Campbell etc to discuss the expiation as well as the impact and lasting legacy of the Maison’s founder.
Chanel was also reported on 2 July that it will show its Métiers d’Art collection in Hangzhou, Zhejiang on 3 December. International fashion pundits mostly focus on how the show signal’s the brand’s continuity after its creative director Virginie Viard announced her departure. However, the location of the show also matters as Chanel announced in May that it intends to open more shops in China, as it only has 18 stores currently, compared to competitors’ 40 to 50 shops across the country. Both the exhibition and the planned expansion show the luxury brand’s commitment to the market.
