Chanel in context – Fashion as freedom:  Chanel and feminist design

Take a journey into Chanel’s extraordinary world with Chanel in Context, a three-part series exploring the design, innovation, legacy and influence of Gabrielle Chanel. Although Gabrielle Chanel didn’t identify as a Feminist, her designs emerged on the fashion and social scene at a critical time in the narrative of women’s rights and freedoms. Chanel’s clothes and accessories were ground-breaking in the way they fit,  moved and looked, as well as in their unexpected materials and styling. In this final Chanel in Context session, NGV curators and guest panellists discuss fashion, freedom, and Feminist design, and how Chanel’s  early work fits into this complex picture. Host Katie Somerville Senior Curator, Fashion & Textiles, NGV Speakers Dr Harriette Richards Dr Harriette Richards is a Research Associate in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. She is co-founder of the Critical Fashion Studies research group and is currently working on projects investigating modern slavery and transparency in the Australian fashion industry and ethical and sustainable fashion innovation. Dr Liliana Grace Pomazan Dr Liliana Pomazan is an author, fashion studies lecturer and fashion practice historian. Her expertise lies in the areas of Parisian haute couture and fashion design of the twentieth to twenty-first centuries, including the history and culture of regional styles and recent forms of contemporary Australian fashion practice.