I was delighted this week to visit the Chanel exhibition, Fashion Manifesto at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. I had booked it on the day the tickets were released (after waiting in a virtual queue for 8 hours) and in preparation had read the Chanel biography by Justine Picardie, attended a Zoom Chanel presentation by the V&A and read reviews and articles on the exhibition. To me it simply wasn’t an exhibition but an opportunity to really learn about Chanel and to have this knowledge to be able to view the exhibition. I was so excited that I’ve had a little countdown widget on my phone, counting down the days.

The exhibition didn’t disappoint, it is spectacular and such an interesting reflection on the social history of Chanel’s lifetime. One of my favourite items was a pair of shorts and blouse, with a psychedelic pattern in bright pink, designed by her at the age of 86, totally fitting in with the fashion of the day of the swinging sixties. To still be so creative and innovative at that age is remarkable.

Chanel’s work is exquisite and the attention to detail, stunning. Some of the finishing had to be seen to be believed, the individual petals on a dress, neatly cut and sewn were awesome. For both my daughter and I it was the dresses which were the highlight, so many different designs and colours but all so beautiful. There is a fantastic display of Chanel suits too, a rainbow of colour, but my memories will be predominantly of the dresses.

The Chanel exhibition was all I had hoped for and more, I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer number and variety of outfits on display covering her whole career. The settings were very well thought out and designed, the room of mirrors was perfect for the staging of the dresses. I keep flicking through the photos on my phone and have ordered the accompanying book to be able to look at the detail at the dresses and dream a little dream of wearing a Chanel dress.