On Tuesday 17th June 2025, one hundred VIPs, Editors, and Friends of the House celebrated the centenary of CHANEL in the United Kingdom with dinner and a performance by English National Ballet at the newly opened V&A East Storehouse.
2025 marks the centenary of CHANEL in the United Kingdom. The allure of le style anglais captivated Gabrielle Chanel and fundamentally shaped her sartorial vision. Introduced to British fashion through her relationship with the Duke of Westminster in the early 1920s, Chanel brought Scottish tweeds, cashmere knits, and Manchester cottons to her design lexicon. The ease and simplicity of English country attire would come to define her revolutionary approach to fashion and the enduring style of the modern woman.
Les Parfums CHANEL was established in France in 1924, following the success of the CHANEL N°5 perfume. A year later, Parfums Chanel Limited was registered in the UK, marking an important moment in the company’s history. In 1927, a CHANEL salon and atelier were unveiled in Mayfair, leading to the establishment of British Chanel Ltd. Here, collections were showcased twice a year until 1932, when Chanel debuted a fashion show of 130 looks at 39 Grosvenor Square – moments away from the House’s global headquarters today.
From the past to the present, the UK remains an ever-relevant source of inspiration for the House: the cities of London (2007), Edinburgh (2012) and Manchester (2023) inspired three unique CHANEL Métiers d’Art collections. The inextricable connections between the House of CHANEL and the UK were showcased at the recent blockbuster exhibition at the V&A, Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. It was the fastest-selling exhibition in the museum’s history. Twice extended, it attracted over 400,000 visitors.
Today, CHANEL continues to champion creativity, culture and craftsmanship in the UK. A new partnership with London’s V&A East Storehouse – the V&A’s new working store and visitor attraction in East Bank, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – embodies the spirit of this long-standing commitment, with a spotlight on the seminal ballet, Le Train Bleu. The one-act performance was first staged by Sergei Diaghilev’s Les Ballets Russes in 1924 with costumes designed by Gabrielle Chanel and a front stage cloth drawn from Picasso’s Deux femmes courant sur la plage. Created in striped jersey knitwear, the costumes enabled the dancers to perform with ease and embodied Chanel’s ethos of freedom of movement. The monumental front cloth is recognised as the largest Picasso in the world; and both the costumes and stage cloth are held in the V&A’s permanent collection. CHANEL has supported the conservation of this ground-breaking artwork, which is now on display in the David and Molly Lowell Borthwick Gallery, a new purpose-built gallery at V&A East Storehouse.
Further enriching the House’s British ties, CHANEL is a long-term patron of English National Ballet. CHANEL’s connection with English National Ballet can be traced back to its origins with Alicia Markova, the prodigy of Sergei Diaghilev, who established the Festival Ballet in 1950, which would later become English National Ballet. Current Artistic Director Aaron S. Watkin commissioned the company’s Associate Choreographer Stina Quagebeur – as part of CHANEL’s ongoing support of female choreographers – to reimagine Le Train Bleu for a performance in front of the original backdrop. The costumes have been reinterpreted by English National Ballet’s Costume Atelier, with the kind permission of CHANEL, and will be unveiled at a performance to celebrate CHANEL’s centenary in the UK. A series of public performances will offer more people the opportunity to experience this significant moment of cultural collaboration.
