{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O75439"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O75439/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV6238/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AV6238/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AV6238","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2013GA3498","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EL1260","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EL1257","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O75439","accessionNumber":"T.22 to C-1979","objectType":"Suit","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (1883-1971) was a rigorous and uncompromising designer. For her, the total look was vital. This elegant ensemble is said to have been worn by Madamoiselle Chanel herself in Italy and Switzerland. After her success earlier in the century, Chanel's salon had been closed for 15 years. The re-opening in 1954 was greeted with lukewarm reviews. She revived her classic suits with the lines pared down to bare essentials, but only American <i>Vogue</i> magazine acknowledged their significance.","physicalDescription":"A black sleeveless, side buttoning dress with a three quarter length jacket with belt and hat.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Coco Chanel","id":"A2068"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"AAT25190"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Chanel","id":"A4468"},"association":{"text":"made and retailed by","id":"x37726"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Worsted crepe, lined with silk","categories":[{"text":"Fashion","id":"THES48957"},{"text":"Womenswear","id":"THES49044"},{"text":"Accessories","id":"THES48998"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2006AV6238","2013GA3498","2010EL1260","2010EL1257"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES404978"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES404167"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES404167"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES404167"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jacket","id":""}],[{"text":"Dress","id":""}],[{"text":"Belt","id":""}],[{"text":"Hat","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Paris","id":"x29068"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1969","earliest":"1969-01-01","latest":"1969-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Autumn Winter"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Weight","value":"2.1","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Dress, jacket, belt","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Size 10-12","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Suit, Jacket, Dress, Belt and Hat, designed by Coco Chanel, Paris, Haute Couture Autumn Winter 1969","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Cullen, Oriole and Karol Burks, Connie. \"Gabrielle Chanel\". London: V&A Publishing, 2023","id":"AUTH397745"},"details":"p 278","free":"On 2 December 1978, seven years after her death, Christie’s auction house in London organized a sale of Chanel’s garments, compiled by her former assistant of 14 years, Lilou Marquand. The sale was not without controversy. Some close to the designer felt it was out of keeping with what she would have wished; others questioned the authenticity of the provenance of the items: the items were definitely by Chanel but did they all belong to Gabrielle Chanel? Yet, the designer’s legendary status ensured there was much interest and a great attendance at the event. Chanel was inextricably linked with the classic black-and-white colour palette and it was this black suit with matching boater-style hat that featured on the cover of the auction catalogue. The suit, Look 21 from the Autumn/Winter 1969 collection, consists of a sleeveless dress and longline jacket, originally worn with a white roll-collar blouse, giving it the air of a religious habit. Listed as Lot 93, it was purchased by the V&A for £1430. As with each of the garments sold at the auction it has a special label stitched inside the lining recording the sale. No pictures exist of Chanel wearing this suit, so it is difficult to confirm or deny its provenance. Regardless of this fact, it remains a timeless ensemble, as relevant and wearable today as it was when first created over 20 years ago, a perfect legacy of the strength of Chanel’s design credo. Journalist Prudence Glynn commented at the time: ‘It is impossible to chart pictorially the evolution of Chanel as a designer because she did not evolve. Rather fashion evolved round her. She created a look which was overwhelmingly successful when it was launched and which has left in-erradicable traces in fashion.’"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Haute couture","id":"THES48861"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"[<i>Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto</i> exhibition, September 2023 - March 2024]\n\nSUIT AND HAT\n\nChanel, so often photographed wearing black and white, is inevitably associated with those colours. The black and white suit has become a perfect instance of the legacy of Chanel’s design credo.\r\nAs the journalist Prudence Glynn wrote in 1971: ‘It is impossible to chart pictorially the evolution of Chanel as a designer because she did not evolve. Rather fashion evolved round her. She created a look which was overwhelmingly successful when it was launched and which has left ineradicable traces in fashion.’\r\nIn 1978, Christie’s organised an auction of Chanel’s personal garments, at which the Victoria and Albert Museum purchased this black suit with matching boater-style hat. It featured on the cover of the auction catalogue. Although each auction garment has a special label stitched inside the lining recording the sale, no pictures exist of Chanel wearing this suit, so it is difficult to confirm or deny its provenance. Yet it remains as relevant and wearable today as it was when first created over 50 years ago.\r\n\r\nAutumn/Winter 1969\r\nWool and silk\r\nV&A: T.22 to C-1979","date":{"text":"September 2023","earliest":"2023-09-01","latest":"2023-09-30"}}],"partNumbers":["T.22C-1979","T.22A-1979","T.22-1979","T.22B-1979"],"accessionNumberNum":"22","accessionNumberPrefix":"T","accessionYear":1979,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Hat","Dress","Jacket","Belt"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-24","recordCreationDate":"2003-02-26","availableToBook":false}}