chanel exhibit in central park

Yeyyh! On Nov. 4th I have a reservation (thanks to my hubs, who was experienced and savy enough to book wayyy in advance. By now all tickets - which were free - are "sold" out) to see this "Star Trek”-style spacecraft, which temporarily lands in Central Park (from Oct. 20 to Nov. 9.) and houses art from artists recruited for the project including Sophie Calle of France, Sylvie Fleury of Switzerland (who is a idil vice fashion fan since the very beginnings), Subodh Gupta of India and the Russian collective Blue Noses.

Each was asked to create a work that was at least in part inspired by Chanel’s classic 2.55 quilted-style chain handbag, so named because it was first issued in February 1955.

I will be reporting my own view after I have seen the exhibition, but as this is exiting, I can't wait until then and have to show you a couple of images I found in the NYC tabloids...


An aspect I'd rather don't think of too much is, is that Chanel will pay the city a “use fee” of $400,000 (not that we do not need it, but it is only a sad fact that the sluggish economy puts the city up for sale further). It's advertising for the French brand, needless to say.


In an interview, which was done on opening night a couple of days ago, Karl Lagerfeld did not seam very happy about the exhibition and kept mentioning that "it is too tight here... too many people, too much art and not enough space"... well, we'll see!

The convergence of art, architecture and fashion is common place these days. A Louis Vuitton bag designed by the artist Richard Prince is constantly spotted on the streets of New York, Basel and London. The Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s creations for Louis Vuitton were sold in a special shop that formed part of a Murakami retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. The architect Rem Koolhaas has helped define the look of Prada shops, and Frank Gehry recently designed a line of jewelry for Tiffany & Company.

“Art is art. Fashion is fashion,” Mr. Lagerfeld said. “However, Andy Warhol proved that they can exist together.”