N°5 Culture Chanel at Palais de Tokyo

There is no need for any attempts at defining it figuratively or descriptively – N°5 is a perfume that travels afar. It crosses countries, gardens, books and artistic movements, spanning all periods with knowing assurance. First launched in 1921, the perfume is a mere 8 years away from celebrating its centenarian and will have an exhibition dedicated to it on 5th May for a month at Palais de Tokyo.

With the support of Chanel, a beautiful garden designed by Piet Oudolf – whose recent projects include the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London and the High Line in New York – provides the introductory setting to the exhibition. The exhibition itself will examine how the famous fragrance is linked to specific historical events, art movements and personal experiences of Coco herself via visual art, photographs and archive objects.

Loved by multiple generations for its timelessness and embodiment of all things Chanel, Coco simply yet poetically describes the perfume as “a perfume with the scent of woman.” An exhibition not to be missed by Chanel and fragrance aficionados alike.

Gabrielle Chanel in a hotel suite at the Ritz in Paris, 1937. Photo François Kollar ©

N°5, Extrait, CHANEL by Daniel Jouanneau & Didier Roy

Exhibition runs from 5th May – 5th June.

For further information visit the Palais de Tokyo website.

My piece above is published on www.theglassmagazine.com where I regularly contribute.

Valentino: Master of Couture

How very apt, I think to myself. The name given to Valentino’s current exhibition at Somerset House, that is - a conclusion I reach after leaving the final set of doors. 

Here is a man who personifies la dolce vita, creating works of art in the form of elegant dresses for glamorous women, from Jackie Kennedy to Audrey Hepburn. Offering a rare glimpse into the inner sanctum of Valentino’s world, the exhibition is staged in three parts. The first room delves into Valentino’s private life, showcasing previously unseen personal photographs, couture invitations, sketches and words of thanks from the industry’s most feared and admired - who knew Anna Wintour would have such enormous bubble-esque handwriting. 

The centrepiece of the show sees the transformation of the long Embankment Gallery into a catwalk of Valentino’s 138 hand-crafted creations. In a clever reversal of roles, the “audience” is in fact made up of mannequins dressed in the priceless couture we have all flocked to see, and it is we, the viewers, who are on the runway. While the dresses are not placed in the centre of attention literally, our attention on them remains quite so - their positioning on the side of the catwalk does not distract us from their beauty and diversity.

The third and final part of the show takes us behind the seams at the atelier through a series of specially made films, showing the painstaking artistry of the couture techniques that go into making a Valentino gown, some of which are unique to Valentino - awe-inspiring indeed.

Valentino and his dresses 

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid

A/W 2002, 2003  HC romantic Valentino Red taffeta evening gown © Valentino Garavani

Photo by Virtual Museum

Valentino dress from S/S 1969, 2000 

Photo by Ruven Affanador

Wedding dress of Princess Marie-Chantal © Valentino Garavani

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid

Catwalk of dresses © Valentino Garavani

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid

Running until 3rd March 2013 at Somerset House 

Admission: ￡12.50, Concessions ￡9

www.somersethouse.org.uk    

My piece above is published on www.theglassmagazine.com where I contribute regularly.

Enamoured: 80 Years of Revlon

A "Happy (Belated Birthday)" is in call. 

As you may - or may not - know, this year is a certain American beauty giant's 80th anniversary. A pretty good chunk of the female population will most likely have had one of the brand's lipsticks or nail polishes in their make-up bag at some point in there lives; I am of course talking about Revlon. 

The stunning retrospective was held at the London Film Museum for three days last week. I was lucky enough (along with my colleagues/friends - the best kind of colleagues - Jess and Sheree) to enjoy and appreciate the exhibition at the launch party where there was champagne flowing, canapés floating and some of Revlon's nail ambassadors ready to treat nail polish addicts to a manicure with the new "Enamoured" design (see below).

Anyway, I'll keep this post short and sweet - a bit like the exhibition itself - but feel free to take a gander at The Glass Magazine where I wrote a teeny bit more about it...

The "Enamoured" design, which I have yet to try! Revlon Nail Enamel was used for this in Revlon Red and Knockout.

Revlon lipsticks in the shape of rouge lips.

Matching "lips and tips" - a Revlon innovation.

My current festive favourite nails, which I sported at the recent work Xmas party.

Get Rich Quick

Let's face it - who doesn't want to get rich quick? 

I've always thought that I'd be happy with enough money to live comfortably and do the things I want to do. And I still believe in it...I think. More or less. But as each day goes by I can't help but imagine how life would be if I suddenly find myself rolling in dough? 

One guy pretty much landed a small fortune overnight, and his name is Mr Brainwash (Thierry Guetta) who became famous mostly thanks to the Banksy documentary, Exit Through The Gift Shop. In a nutshell, he "rips-off" other artists, musicians, you name it and jazzes it up and turns it into his own piece of work. Some even debate over whether he's even real or simply a creation? Or if he's Banksy. Who knows! 

So I went to his first solo exhibition during my lunch break today. It's in the Old Sorting Office on New Oxford Street and I have to say I quite enjoyed the exhibition. Filled with excited tourists and curious passers-by, it was a light-hearted and fun way to enjoy pieces of art, if you will, in a raw space. It almost felt like a tribute or paying hommage to the UK with images of the Beatles, the Queen and other British icons. He may have pinched artists's work, but he had an idea and saw it through to the end. Then he got rich, quick!

Maybe I should come up with a money-making scheme too... Do you have one? I swear I won't nick it! Hehe.