CHANEL: Mademoiselle Privé Seoul

CHANEL will present the next stage of the Mademoiselle Privé exhibition at the D Museum in Seoul. This unique experience captures the audacity and energy of the brand, the brilliance of Karl Lagerfeld's creative vision on the story of Gabrielle Chanel and his take on CHANEL's codes, symbols and icons projected into the future with surprise and daring.
Exhilarating on every level, Mademoiselle Privé Seoul concentrates on Haute Couture designs by Karl Lagerfeld, the re-editions of Gabrielle Chanel's one and only High Jewellery collection ‘Bijoux de Diamants’ created in 1932, the legendary CHANEL N°5 fragrance, and further pep up the adventure into the origins of CHANEL's creations with digital dynamism and Korean touches.
Curated in the style of an incredible journey, Mademoiselle Privé will twist and turn throughout and offer elements of wonderment. Visitors enter the exhibition through a staircase topped by a ceiling inspired by Gabrielle Chanel's Coromandel lacquered screens' patterns, leading down to the first floor, offering a very first glimpse inside the fascinating aesthetic world of CHANEL.
Through a series of instalments, level M1 dazzles with Gabrielle Chanel’s influence. The graphic Deauville room whose hat boxes and series of mini-films evoke her very first boutique opened in 1913 in France highlights the enduring modernity of the allure she invented. The next room celebrates exceptional totems referencing the House’s codes and symbols –lucky charms, colours, patterns and figures– that were dear to Gabrielle Chanel and are continued by Karl Lagerfeld. The camellia, Gabrielle Chanel's fetish flower which remains indissolubly linked to the brand’s creations, is revisited by Korean artist Jiyong Lee.
The third room is dedicated to CHANEL N°5, created by Gabrielle Chanel in 1921, and evokes the key ingredients of the iconic fragrance. Visitors first discover an artistic interpretation of the May rose, followed by an architecturally designed pipe organ with glass vials, each containing the raw ingredients essential to CHANEL N°5: aldehydes, ylang ylang, May rose, jasmine and sandalwood. The last monolith captures the abstract composition of the legendary fragrance, while the final touch of the olfactory journey culminates in an airlock permeated with the scent of CHANEL N°5 L'Eau. The M1 level ends with a Sensory room recalling the inimitable craftsmanship of CHANEL's Haute Couture workshops, a canvas wrapped and 3D stitched staircase bridging the downstairs rooms to the upstairs Level M2.
After the work signed by Karl Lagerfeld and inspired by Mademoiselle Chanel's creative studio door at 31 rue Cambon in Paris, several successive sophisticated installations sweep through Gabrielle Chanel's story and ignite the innovative talent of Karl Lagerfeld as illustrated by the Haute Couture neon room whose line-up of stark mannequins contrasts with the x-ray treatment of twelve Haute Couture dresses, all designed by Karl Lagerfeld. Layers of flawless technique are apparent such as embroidery from the House of Lesage or feather work from the House of Lemarié, yet there remains an astounding lightness.
In the next space, Karl Lagerfeld’s portraits of seventeen actresses, models and friends of the House of CHANEL from Kristen Stewart to Lily-Rose Depp, wearing Haute Couture and re-editions from the ‘Bijoux de Diamants’ collection are in constant movement having been segmented, shuffled and elaborately hung.
The visitors are caught by the controlled perfection and the boldness of the Haute Couture silhouettes magnified by mannequins. An army of statuesque glass columns and poetic settings encased in glass enhance the individuality, timelessness and audacity of the ‘Bijoux de Diamants’ High Jewellery pieces, while a giant rhinestone necklace’s white light explosion is skilfully trapped in a cage room, celebrating Gabrielle Chanel's favourite gem, the diamond.
Visitors will end this enthralling Mademoiselle Privé journey with a series of polaroid portraits of friends of the House, including G-Dragon, Caroline de Maigret, Irene Kim and Soo Joo Park wearing the ‘Bijoux de Diamants’ collection, exhibited for the very first time in Seoul, and the screening of short movies directed by Karl Lagerfeld, including Visite Nocturne*, an imaginary conversation between Karl Lagerfeld and Gabrielle Chanel interpreted with exceptional finesse by Geraldine Chaplin.
Upstairs on level 4F there’s a space for exclusive Lesage (embroiderer), Lemarié (feather and flower maker), High Jewellery, and N°5 workshops highlighting the craftsmanship and savoir-faire of the House of CHANEL.
The Mademoiselle Privé Seoul exhibition touches upon the CHANEL icons, codes and symbols and continues in the charismatic and irreverent spirit of Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld to intrigue and charm at the same time.