N°5 Culture Chanel exhibition.

Chanel is one of those names that just exudes glamour. Simple, chic and ever so typically French, whenever those two monochromed C's are together one can't help but get drawn in. The N° 5 Culture Chanel exhibition is being held at Palais de Tokyo in the swanky 16th arrondissement and after having seen many a poster with the iconic N° 5 bottle I was keen to learn more.

I met BT after work and after being handed wadding guide books of hardback goodness we were also pointed in the direction of FREE audio-guides. FREE. This is seemed rather novel to us and as we sheepishly put on our head-sets it became apparent that the layout for the exhibition was somewhat confusing. I know it doesn't take a lot to throw me but this zig zag format really wasn't ideal for manoeuvring between each of the glass blocks displaying pictures, letters, pieces of artwork all personal to Gabrielle Chanel herself. Despite being very informative, we actually decided to do the exhibition on our own terms with the help of the beautifully put together guide-book. 

 Gabrielle really knew how to work a string of pearls. 

 DALI. 

 Given the chance, I so would've smuggled these out of Palais de Tokyo. 

The FREE audio-guide plus guide-book that I am now going to keep forevs.

What I found surprising were the amount of references to other artists such as Dali and Guillaume Apollinaire who influence Gabrielle Chanel and even the name of her most famous and first fragrance N° 5. Did you know that 5 was Gabrielle Chanel's lucky number and all throughout her childhood she attached it to symbols and signs. It's also a number with secret meanings associated with Hinduism, Buddhism and the mystification with the number 5 in China. Gabrielle wasn't just thinking about aesthetics or how Nicole Kidman would look sporting the N° 5 necklace specially made for the perfume advert directed by Baz Lurhmann. In fact Gabrielle Chanel was one tough cookie and she really pushed the boundaries in the creation of fashion designs, causing controversy whilst simultaneously changing the face of fashion for generations to come.