MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Anastasia Lopatko) - A Chanel exhibition at Moscow's Pushkin Fine Arts Museum has raised quite a few eyebrows.
Indeed, putting the grande dame of fashion at the center of its new show may seem quite a deviation from the museum's famously conservative approach to artwork display. But the curators believe Chanel's legacy should not be considered just in terms of fashion design and that she was a true artist.
The show Chanel: L'Art comme Univers (Art as a Universe) was expected to generate a lot of public interest, but the turnout has surpassed all expectations. Director Irina Antonova has even suggested introducing a daily limit on the number of visits so as to prevent the exhibition area from getting overcrowded.
The independent mind, the strength and the glamour of Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, who rose to fame and prosperity from the humble beginnings of a Parisian orphanage, make her a highly attractive figure in post-Soviet Russia, and many women here choose her as their role model. And in her designs, modern-day Russians can rediscover their national heritage, as she was strongly influenced by Russian culture, and had friends among the Russian artistic elite.
Russian influences are particularly obvious in such of Coco's models as her coat with a sable lining and her folksy shirt with an embroidered collar and cuffs.
Chanel worked with Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev, the man behind the Ballets Russes in Paris. She designed stage costumes for his 1924 production "Le Train Bleu" ("The Blue Train"), a work that brought her wide recognition even among the detractors.
Coco was also friends with the composer Igor Stravinsky, and had him and his family stay at her villa following the Bolshevik revolution in 1917.
And she had a romantic relationship with Grand Prince Dmitry Romanov, a member of the Russian royal family. "This was a true love story," said Jean-Louis Froman, the French curator of the Chanel exhibition at the Pushkin museum. "Through Prince Dmitry, Chanel met a whole number of talented Russians who had found refuge in France at that time. Her passion for Dmitry Pavlovich and his milieu brought forth an interest in traditional Russian dress, including elements such as embroidery and fur linings in overcoats. Chanel found comfort and freedom in this tradition, things she had always searched for in her modeling."
Interestingly, Coco never denied that strong Russian influence. Even the legendary perfume Chanel No. 5 is Russian in origin. It was the Russian-born perfumer Ernest Beaux who turned Coco's composition of 80-odd different fragrances into a sexy, long-lasting perfume by adding aldehyde, for the first time in the industry's history.
Chanel perfumes are now in the air at the Pushkin museum. They are sprayed around to make it easier for the visitors to submerge into the fashion queen's realm.
Gabrielle spent her early years in an orphanage and then in a Catholic convent, where all manifestations of a bright individuality in children were subdued. But she never succumbed, and the distinctive style she later created in fashion design encouraged other women to try to discover their own identity rather than imitate.
Self-confident and willful, at times sarcastic and cynical, she was never afraid of rebelling against public opinion. She preferred to be the one who sets trends, not follows. She had connections in the Parisian bohemia, but never tried to pastiche anyone else's style and eventually had her bohemian friends look up to her as a role model. Her image of a 20th-century emancipee, whose look is determined by style rather than fashion, remains relevant even today, in the 21st century.
Chanel's ability to overcome the woman's natural limits and her leadership ambitions were sending out impulses strong enough to penetrate even through the Soviet empire's "iron curtain." Chanel products could hardly be found in Russia in those days, but Soviet ladies with opportunities to travel abroad could not stand the temptation of spending whatever little money they had on a Channel perfume. Even Mrs. Antonova, the Pushkin Museum's head, remembers spending all her hard-currency cash on a small bottle of Channel No. 5 during her first foreign trip in 1956.
The Chanel display in Moscow is built around themes reflecting different stages in the fashion designer's creative development. The Black section features the fitted black dress, which became one of her trademarks. Many suggest the model was inspired by the austere robes of nuns among whom she lived as a girl.
Next comes the Red area. Purple was Chanel's favorite lipstick color, and she would often add reds to her collections, saying: "Red is the color of blood, and we've got so much of it inside that at least some should come out."
The Venice section shows what inspired Chanel in that stunningly beautiful city. Indeed, many of Coco's models reflect her fascination with the onion-shaped Venetian domes and gilded mosaics.
The Sands area spotlights knitwear which Chanel used for creating close-fitted suits with clear-cut, smooth contours.
The Tweed section features Chanel's colored tweed suits, which proved extremely popular with women of position and power, such as U.S. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The tweeds allude to the English period in Chanel's life, her romantic relationship with the Duke of Westminster and the time she spent with him in his English estate.
The exhibition is unusual and fascinating, imbuing visitors with invigorating energy as it takes them through the labyrinths of the great artist's eventful life. Coco's rich emotional world, with her joys and sorrows, victories and failures, mysteries and revelations, is all reflected in her models and through them penetrates our hearts. Coco was an enigma that still excites the minds of millions.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
