Tag: Exhibition

British Fashion Icons Transform Blenheim Palace

Written on February 8, 2024.

Blenheim Palace, renowned for its historic grandeur, announces its most significant fashion exhibition to date, featuring a stellar lineup of British fashion icons. From March 23rd to June 30th 2024, visitors will witness a unique collaboration between esteemed designers and the UNESCO World Heritage site, as each fashion house takes over a significant room to create “Icons of British Fashion.” Blenheim Palace, renowned for its historic grandeur – South Lawn A Tribute to British Icons: The exhibition will pay homage to the illustrious careers of British fashion legends, with each room along the visitor route in the 300-year-old Palace dedicated to showcasing the iconic works of renowned designers. Highlights Include: Vivienne Westwood: The Great Hall will...

Exhibition: The Chic Geek Visits Museum of London Docklands’ Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners Shaped Global Style

Written on October 10, 2023.

While the City of London location is closed, the Museum of London Docklands has opened a new fashion exhibition looking at the valuable Jewish contribution in making London the world’s most fashionable city. From East End tailors to the couture salons of the West End, Fashion City tells the stories of Jewish makers who became leaders in their industries, created some of the most recognisable looks of the 20th century, founded retail chains still on the high street today, and dressed the rich and famous- from David Bowie and Princess Diana to Mick Jagger and Muhammad Ali. The exhibition is a story of two halves, cleverly connected by the 1900 Central Line. The beginning is more austere and based in the deprived East End. It’s a look at the immigrant beginnings and the transferable...

The Chic Geek Comment What the 1978 Christie’s Chanel auction tells us about the changing attitudes in collecting vintage fashion

Written on October 9, 2023.

The final look in the V&A museum’s new Chanel exhibition features a very austere and catholic looking black buttoned dress with white dog collar. It was the star item – featuring on the cover of the catalogue – at the 1978 sale at Christie’s of Coco Chanel’s possessions. It was bought by the V&A museum at the ‘Sale of the Personal Collection of Chanel’ to add to its extensive fashion collection. While I don’t know how much the museum paid for it, I am certain it wouldn’t be able to buy it today. Fashion wasn’t looked at the same then. It was something that came and went and wearing second clothes had more of a stigma than sartorial statement. It had a value, but it was a niche market to fill a gap in a museum collection. Many brands didn’t have archives...

Exhibition: The Chic Geek Visits the V&A Museum’s Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto

Written on October 9, 2023.

Don’t go for the clothes – they are pretty, but a reminder that Chanel doesn’t have any definitive iconic items like say a YSL Mondrian dress or a Le Smoking – go for the birth and foundation of a megabrand. The exhibition encapsulates the power and commercial importance of perfume and something everybody from a queen – there’s a letter from Queen Elizabeth II thanking for a gifted bottle of No.5 – downwards can buy. One of the most interesting takeaways is the revelation that the Chanel No.5 bottle was based on the Place Vendôme in Paris. The Wertheimer family, who still own Chanel, were Coco’s original perfume partners and helped her relaunch couture in the 1950s and the subsequent brand we know today. They understood the importance of clothes and fashion...

Manolo Blahnik Immersive ‘The Craft Room’ Exhibition Opens

Written on October 4, 2023.

Luxury shoe brand, Manolo Blahnik is delighted to announce upcoming immersive exhibition Manolo Blahnik: The Craft Room – the first multi-sensory virtual reality experience opening at xydrobe, Mayfair. A spellbinding journey, Manolo Blahnik: The Craft Room dives into the dreams and designs of the heritage shoemaker and celebrates the brand’s extraordinary craftsmanship behind the men’s and women’s collections. Designed by CEO Kristina Blahnik, creative features in the virtual space include the house’s signature polka dot motif as a ‘wallpaper’, originally inspired by Blahnik’s Spanish roots. The centre point of the experience is a replica of the designer’s desk which acts as the wayfinder to other...

Exhibition V&A DIVA

Written on June 20, 2023.

DIVA celebrates the power and creativity of iconic performers, exploring and redefining the role of ‘diva’ and how this has been subverted or embraced over time across opera, stage, popular music, and film. Showcasing over 250 objects drawn from the V&A collection and loans from across the world, the exhibition explores the powerful and personal stories of creativity, ambition, and resilience of some of the best-known divas, from opera goddesses and silent movie stars to sirens of the big screen and today’s global megastars. TheChicGeek says, “The difficult temporary exhibition space above and in the centre of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s Fashion Gallery is my least favourite. Things just don’t pop here. They really should think about the lighting...