Can I tell you...about the Chanel Mobile Art exhibition. I had read about the latest Chanel marketing coup several months ago and was intrigued by it. Karl and Zaha, what a combination! I'm a fan of Zaha Hadid's work and the idea of a self contained traveling art exhibit of all things Chanel was definitely worth seeing. Coincidentally, I happened to be in Hong Kong where they debuted the structure.
The Chanel Contemporary Art Container was erected on the Star Ferry Carpark in Central,the business district of Hong Kong. It looked like an alien space ship (7,500 square feet) had landed with chic little UFOs milling about dressed in...you guessed it...Chanel. The structure's organic and fluid lines was such a stark contrast to the geometric and angular skyscrapers, it was stunning. My bff and Hong Kong man-about-town Choy Urra reserved several tickets to see the exhibit. It's only by appointment so you can't just go on a whim. You reserve tickets on line and they messenger the tickets to your address...for free! Can you just imagine what kind of marketing budget they have to go to this extreme?!
We got there right after lunch so we avoided the after work crowd. Each guest is given an MP3 player to listen to. The soundtrack was created by the American label Soundwalk in collaboration with the artists. You had the choice of Chinese, French or English. Once I pressed play I was hypnotized. It was French icon Jeanne Moreau speaking to me as well as some ambient sound effects and original music. I can listen to that raspy voice all day. She told me to go, stop, sit, look into a well, in boxes, peek inside a little S&M room, to listen and to dream.
I was transported into a Chanel acid trip. I've actually never done acid but I have an active imagination and this is as surreal as it gets. The whole experience was like being in a "3-D film" going from section to section, each featuring different artist's vision of Chanel's iconic 2.55 quilted bag.
"2.55" signifies February 1955 when the bag was designed by Coco Chanel. There were a total of 20 artists such as Yoko Ono, Sylvie Fleury, photographers Nobuyoshi Araki and Stephen Shore and the Russian collective Blue Noses hand picked for this project by curator Fabrice Bousteau. The 'trip' lasts for about 50 minutes. At the exit they give you a magazine as memorabilia.
The magazine contained the artist's bios and the concept behind the whole exhibit just in case you walked out of there a little confused and wondering if you should be rushing over to the Chanel store across the street to buy something...a lipstick, Chanel No.5 perfume or preferably the everlasting Chanel 2.55 quilted bag. Some of the women from our group did exactly just that. Now that's successful marketing! I had friends who weren't crazy about the whole experience, finding it self consciously hip and condescending. Fashionistas can be jaded. Personally I enjoyed it. It takes a lot of guts (and cash) to be able to poke fun at your brand at this massive scale. But then again, when you're Karl Lagerfeld, it seems like anything is possible. With Karl at the driver seat, I'm happy to go along for the ride.This 'gallery-to-go' will be on the road for the next 2 years going to Tokyo this May, New York in September, London in June '09, Moscow in September '09 and finally Paris in February '10. Catch it where you can, this is one experience you don't want to miss. Thanks Karl, that was fun!
