Chanel Exhibition aka Mademoiselle Prive

A few weeks ago we decided to hit up the most talked about exhibition this autumn - Mademoiselle Prive - an insight into the life and designs of the one and only Coco Chanel. Held for free at the Saatchi Gallery, it was reasonable to expect that half of London and beyond would attend it, talk about it, Instagram it and share the hell out of it. Of course, we couldn't miss out. 

On a lovely sunny Wednesday we all gathered up in front of the Saatchi and dashed in like the Fashion Society that we are. In case some of you guys hadn't noticed, the Facebook event we created for the exhibition went viciously viral and we had a good 2k people meant to attend. Very realistic. But the 35 people that did show up for the actual Fashion Society were more than enough to tickle our fancy and consider our event-organising duties fulfilled. 

The exhibition was a true sensory experience, taking you one room at a time through Coco's creatively infused life. You quite literally walk in to her apartment, the infamous mirrored staircase on your right, and more mirrors on your left, and again on your right many people queueing to take a picture on the staircase. And you wonder whether you'll go for it too. And you do. 

You then proceed to the black corridor, little blue lights twinkling like a Chanel constellation, and you stand there in awe until you cut the corner and stumble upon an even more mesmerising sight: a huge caged diamond necklace, slowly turning, bouncing back the rays of light off of each and every little one of its gems. And you remain there in awe for another 85 seconds, fighting the urge to pull out your iPhone and just snap away, trading this moment of quiet fascination away for future virtual memories, or maybe just more Instagram likes. But who could blame you? We did it too. 

By far, the most enthralling room was the perfume room, showcasing the creations of Chanel's olfactory artisans in the form of, to quote Vogue, 'a Willy Wonka-style scent-filled room packed with bubbling vats - the lids of which lift without warning to reveal the fragrance, and sometimes surprising colour, inside'. Afterwards, for a moment of quiet, you go to the French garden, a real oasis within the bustling exhibition, the walls ornated with interlinked deep green hedges. 

The pictures speak for themselves, so I'll stop the descriptive verbal waterfall now. And if you want a magnified look at this unique exhibition, just read the Vogue review. 

The queue was as classy as the insides of the Saatchi. 

Hats, hats and more hats

This door cutely resembled a graceful little exit from Mademoiselle Prive's generous glimpse of her life.

One of the totems. And the amazing necklace. 

Hats, yet again.

Chains used in manufacturing the Chanel bags. Chanel dresses on display.

How could Coco miss the exhibition? 

Sidenote: the exhibition was accompanied by a specially created app that gave life to many of the rooms. Coco whispered her own story. 

All pictures taken by our Creative Executive and Photographer Federica Potenza. Follow her on Instagram to get a daily dose of cool @hilaryfierce

Text by Social Secretary Jessica Arapu @jessicaarapu