A year in the planning, a month in the making and displacing the antiques department for the next three weeks, 'Une Promenade, an installation by Chanel, opens tomorrow at Harrods. It’s a non-commercial space made up of seven themed rooms encircling an atrium. In the No. 5 room, inside a giant bottle of perfume, a young Catherine Deneuve announces: “Chanel – it’s one of the pleasures of being a woman”.
In the 2.55 room, a series of videos document the creation process of the eponymous luxury quilted leather handbag. Perched on a quilted leather banquet, a secret pocket for letters from the bag re-created in oversize on the wall, you feel like you might be a Chanel lipstick, actually in the handbag.
Art historian Jean Leymarie is credited with placing Coco Chanel in the context of twentieth century art. His book Eternal Chanel first published in 1989, helped explain her influence on artists through her position in society as well as the way in which they interpreted and illuminated her designs. A new edition re-printed last year draws out key moments in Chanel’s creative history, the results of which are on display in the installation.
To celebrate the partnership, Chanel have produced a pop-up book in collaboration with illustrator Julien Columbier and L'Agence Pop-Up. The five-part book showcases intricate cut-outs of Columbier's abstract interpretations of the Chanel-themed areas in Harrods, including Karl Largerfeld's "misty garden".
"Une Promenade" opens tomorrow, Tuesday September 6, on Harrods Third Floor.
Text by Agata Belcen
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