From Selfie to Self-Expression

As a child/student of fine art and criticising art for majority of my student life, I never aligned classical portraits with characteristics like vanity. Comparing to classical portraits dating back from the late 1400s with today's "selfie" with technology, you can clear see that the denomination of self-control takes place as clearly now as back then !

It's amazing how traditional method's within practicing art is still used in modern society but through different mediums. I did not do any research before entering the exhibition so I was pleased to see a wide range from my traditional favourites like Van Gogh, Cézanne and Frida Kahlo.

I encourage you all to visit (Ending July 23) and experience a rich exploration of the journey of self- portraiture.

Mademoiselle Prive

Chanel returned to the halls of the Saatchi Gallery during October with an installation set over three floors bringing to life the spirit and charm of the brands legends; Mademoiselle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. 

 

There were many of elements within this exhibition, it was not the type where you travelled through various corridors / up a couple of steps and take a few cute selfies. The installation gave you a chance to immerse yourself in some of Chanel’s most iconic creations, a focus of the haute couture, the 1932 Bijoux de Diamants high-jewellery collection and the Chanel No 5 fragrance. But Chanel's approach via an exhibition installation, struck me in a very cool and thoughtful way. 

A unique element of this exhibition for me was the mobile application, where visitors got to journey through the creativity of the brand in an interactive way through their Bluetooth. As you can see from the above, when the phone moved over an element of the room, the interactive session began. It was so cool ( I really want to say ' simply magical' but maybe that's a bit too much lol), you could hold the phone up at part of the exhibition and your phone/tablet change into an interactive description of graphic message relating to the brand and the purpose of the exhibition. Having this option allows much more visual freedom within the space of the exhibition. Sometimes I find it slightly annoying when you have 1/3 of the dissertation description right next to the beautiful picture that deserves to be honest though; text with our can be tricky for me to digest.

 

I attended to the workshops on the Wednesday, with my friend Jonathan and they were such beautiful experiences. The first one was there CHANEL N°5, Olfactive workshop way we had the opportunity to see and experience the key ingredients to the world famous and best seller, the CHANEL N°5; as well as discover the vision and creation of CHANEL N°5, from Ernest Beaux, the first house perfumer, to Jacques Polge. 

Who knew I would engage in conversation with a group of people about ' the art of wearing of wearing fragrance'? We all agreed it was best to:

a) put it where ever you want to be 'kissed'

b) spray around 6" away from the skin and let it 'sit' 

c) DO not rub

The final workshop of the day was at the Lesage, embroiderer;  where we were able to participate in creating embroidery pieces in a similar fashion to how it would be done in the savoir-faire at haute couture. This happened to be our most favourite workshop simply because of our determination to produce great 'masterpieces'. We had the same blank canvas to start with and build upon, but due to our different taste we produced very different pieces; mine resulted very traditional, whilst Jonathan's sparked elements of the dark side of Chanel.

 

“Which exhibition have you preferred most (which was better)”, I feel bad if I tried to come up with a direct answer in general because designer and exhibition activities are all beautiful within there own right, especially with a brand with such strong heritage. The Hermes Wanderland (not on this platform but do check my portfolio) was full of fun, energy through interaction (within certain rooms) and reduced me to my childhood in a luxury world; The tiffany exhibition initially geared me up to experience the love of and within the brand, but I then learned and appreciated the connotations aligned with the brand, reminiscing on the beauty of New York City. Series 3 brought me back to my final major project, in terms of the element they had within the exhibition where there was a member of its’ atelier re-making one of the bags (anatomy of the bag always melts hearts ) and Mademoiselle Prive was just ‘on fire’ with the technological elements installed as well as the workshop activities allowing followers of the brand to live life with Chanel for around 60mins.

How on earth can I answer simply yes/no create a list? Fashion and technology is a topic that many people within industry are discussing in great detail and exploring more and more and it excites me! So that is what grabbed me at Mademoiselle Prive.

I hope you enjoy the photo diary, a few more are here!! ^_^

x

Chanel visits Saatchi Gallery

Chanel will open the doors of their new exhibition, 'Mademoiselle Privé' at the Saatchi Gallery from October 13^th 2015 until November. According to buro247.com, the exhibit will highlight the iconic French fashion house's Haute Couture expertise, the re-issued 1932 'Bijoux de Diamants' high jewelry collection and also highlight Chanel No. 5. 

Note: Tiffany highlighting its connection between the luxury brand and the New York City aesthetic through their watch range. Chanel putting on an exhibit where they are focusing on their high jewelry pieces; something important to the brand because the fine jewelry was created by its namesake founder – Coco Chanel, a fact that the brand would pride itself on.

Chanel is no stranger to exhibition displays in the Saatchi gallery; I can’t wait until it arrives! See you October 13!

Hermes Exhibition

An exhibition dedicated to the luxury brand will be open to the public at the Saatchi Gallery from the 21st-27th May. Expect to see a selection of different crafts demonstrated live, how they make the luxury products in their workshops and much more !

The Festival de Métiers exhibition will only run for a week, providing to the public a fascinating experience and insight in the crafting of fine and luxury products which Hermès have prided themselves with for many years. We will be able to see how the iconic silk scarves are printed as well as the 'birth' and creation of handbags, fine-jewellery and (hopefully) much more.

So far, the exhibition has been held in Beijing & Shenyang in China and its now coming to London for a week before it sets off to Dusseldorf.

I definitely want to attend this exhibition, I find that brands who are holding theses sort of 'invites' into their world, letting you gain insight to how they have come from the past to the present excites me. Visiting the Valentino, Chanel  and Dior exhibition felt like taking a History class outside my university library and being able to get up close and really see the fabrics, and documents / stamps / symbols that makes the brand what it really is ! So I urge you to go, it will be a fun day out for you and friends and a great history lesson about one of the most well-known and well respected brands in luxury fashion.

x

The Little Black Jacket - Photo Diary

 

Karl Lagerfeld hosted an exhibition for Chanel in a photographic way which dedicated to a book edition he created titled, ‘The Little Black Jacket: CHANEL’s classic revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld’. The exhibition opened at the Saatchi Gallery in London in October 2012. It followed on from Tokyo, New York, Taipei and Hong Kong, underlining the brand’s values of creativity, modernity and excellence. 

The public discovered the versatility and timelessness of the iconic Chanel jacket through Karl Lagerfeld’s 113 photographs, modelled on a range of friends of the House, with each personality adapting the garment to reflect their own inimitable style - worn as a cape on singer Lily Allen, draped around model Stella Tennant, or even transformed into a vest on model Edie Campbell 

Also running simultaneously with the exhibition, there were displays in Chanel’s Bond Street, Sloane Street and Brompton Cross boutiques a selection of jackets from the latest collections. 

There was also a separate website dedicated to the exhibition journey, throughout 15 cities in the year. 

What I personally loved from this exhibition was how Lagerfeld made the Little Black Jacket relevant for the 2012 consumer. Year after year, we see the famous jacket created by Chanel, re made  in a fresh way, but its underlined roots and heritage are visible. Also, the layout of the exhibition was enough, not overpowering but simply about the photographic space and the content.