On December 4, a monumental Chanel exhibition – with more than 230 garments, accessories and jewellery pieces, some never before seen – will open at the NGV.

The summer blockbuster is coming direct from Palais Galliera – Paris’s pre-eminent fashion museum, where it premiered last year – to make its international debut.

But this morning, the NGV offered a behind-the-scenes look at the arrival and unveiling of the very first garments to form part of Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto; it’s a retrospective of the visionary work and long-lasting legacy of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

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The pure tangibility struck Danielle Whitfield, curator of fashion and textiles at the NGV, who has mostly been working remotely due to the gallery’s months-long closure. “Standing in front of something is a thousand times better than looking at it on a screen – it’s mind-blowing,” she tells Broadsheet. “And with everybody really focused on prepping mannequins and garments, it’s like a flashback to two years ago. The energy that you get from it is kind of amazing.”

She calls out an exquisitely made dress from 1922. “It’s a simple tunic from when Chanel was quite influenced by Russian motifs and cuts and folkloric traditions,” Whitfield says. “Seeing the incredible 100-year-old horizontal panels of beadwork up close … they give the simple silhouette of a little black dress a sense of movement. And it helps you comprehend how it’s been selected, what it says and how it fits into what Chanel was trying to say.”

Also unboxed was a classic tweed suit and a dress and coat ensemble from the ’60s, as well as a dress from the last collection Chanel worked on in 1971. But Whitfield is also excited for gallery-goers to see the breadth of her work – not just the expected, but “floral-printed chiffon, jersey suits from the ’30s and fully sequinned evening wear”.

Billed as “the first exhibition in Australia to exclusively focus on the significant contribution to 20th-century fashion culture by the renowned French couturière”, it’s a coup for the NGV.

“Palais Galliera is an institution we’ve wanted to work with for some time now,” says Whitfield. “And for us to take on board such an important show from them is really significant. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto will run from December 4, 2021, to April 25, 2022, at NGV International.

ngv.vic.gov.au