Fashion

Culture, Fashion

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto

The legacy of a timeless icon

Opening on 16th September 2023, the V&A is to stage the first UK exhibition dedicated to the work of French couturière, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, possibly the most influential woman in fashion, ever. She devoted her life to promoting a new kind of elegance based on freedom of movement and revolutionised the world by introducing garments such as the woman’s suit and the “little black dress”, the quilted bag, costume jewellery, and of course, one of the most famous fragrances in history, Chanel No. 5, created as an extension of her clothing and interpretation of modernity.

This long-awaited show charters the evolution of her iconic design style and the establishment of the House of CHANEL through 10 different sections, which go from the opening of her first millinery boutique in Paris in 1910 to the showing of her final collection in 1971. The curators have carefully analysed her professional career, the emergence and the development of her style, and her contribution to the history of fashion.

Examples of the ensembles designed by Gabrielle Chanel on show at the V&A exhibition in London.

Showcasing many for the…

Fashion

Princess Suite by Harry Winston

Royal-inspired jewels with a modern flair

Ever since the House of Harry Winston was founded in New York in 1932, the name has been synonymous with the finest and most sought-after high jewellery in the world. In fact, Mr Winston earned the moniker of “King of Diamonds” and “Rare jeweller of the World”. Maybe part of the reason was his incredible […]

Fashion

Brighter than the sun

Jewels for a dazzling summer

As early as 150,000 years ago, humans started to wear jewellery. The first we have record of is a necklace made of seashells, found in Morocco. Gold jewellery emerged around 6,000 years ago among cultures such as Meso-America, Mesopotamia, Ancient China, Ancient Egypt, Ancient India, and Ancient Greece and Rome. Gemstones were incorporated by the […]

Fashion

The New Avenger

Memories of a blonde, sassy spy

With her blonde bob and martial arts skills, Purdey was the high-kicking embodiment of a sassy female secret agent in The New Avengers, which hit television screens in 1976 and 1977. Joanna Lumley played the fictional character working for British intelligence, alongside the bowler-hatted Patrick McNee, as Steed, in this television classic. She was a […]

Fashion

Kyle De’Volle

Love as disruption

Unpretentious, transparent, engaging, confident, funny – those are just a few of the words that spring to mind when I reflect on my interview with the fabulous Kyle De’Volle. A true industry insider, De’Volle’s contacts are second to none in the worlds of fashion and celebrity. He has a powerful social-media presence, and has become […]

Fashion

The Seduction of Suspense

Mystery girl

Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, always believed in the theory that the bomb must never go off. “There is no terror in the bang,” he said, “only in the anticipation of it.” Hitchcock would draw in his audience, setting the scene with stark lighting, deep shadows, an enclosed space, an air of intensity, perhaps […]

Fashion

SARA NEZIR

Redefining femininity

In my job, I get to meet incredible talent from all walks of life, some with iconic status on the world stage, some reasonably known and some completely new, fresh and fearless. Clearly fitting into this last group is designer Sara Nezir. From her atelier in Istanbul, and with only two collections to her name, […]

Fashion

A Sense of Style

Ideas for a casual summer

With Father’s Day round the corner, we have taken a few tips from the most stylish celebrity dads around to give you some ideas of what to get for your dad as a present or even better, why not going out shopping with him? It could be a really fun day. Whether your dad is […]

Conservation, Fashion

Running Around in Circles

Circular fashion finally catches on

For lovers of fashion, the advent of online shopping, social media and the relentless pace of new collections and exclusive collaborations has found us bombarded with novelty and temptations we can find difficult to resist. But there is a big and depressing downside to this: a shocking 64 percent of the 32 billion garments produced […]

Fashion

In Between Seasons

A bit of new and a lot of vintage as we await for spring

February and March are those months during which one is tired of their winter clothes but most days it is still too cold to go around in full spring outfits. Shopping around for a few new season pieces and digging out some gems from vintage stores, you can put together a fabulous and stylish wardrobe […]

Fashion

Afternoon In A London Townhouse

Going retro-chic

Singers Françoise Hardy and Jane Birkin were the poster girls of the Swinging Sixties and Bohemian Seventies. Cool Parisian IT-girls, they created a look that was far removed from the tailored couture-style fashions of a previous generation. Their undone, androgynous insouciance established a carefree-careless attitude to fashion that is still emulated by young French women […]

Fashion

APL | McLaren HySpeed™

Performance, agility, speed.

Since 1992 McLaren has been flying high the flag of luxury supercars. From the very first F1 to their newest hypercar, the electric Artura, the British manufacturer has become synonymous with innovation and performance. Based in Los Angeles, Athletic Propulsion Labs was founded in 2009 based in the same principles of innovation and performance, but […]

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