Dress of red cotton velvet, Gabrielle Chanel, Autumn/Winter 1932, Paris, France

Full-length evening dress of red cotton velvet. The dress is constructed in panels that intersect across the torso and splay out to create an almost circular lower skirt, creating a flared skirt from the lower thigh down. The hem is scalloped. The waistband overlaps at the centre back with hook and eye fastenings.

Purchase funded by the V&A Americas Foundation through the generosity of Diana Quasha

The dress is from Chanel’s Autumn/Winter 1932 collection, which included many evening gowns in cotton fabrics including cotton velvet. Cotton was an unconventional choice for eveningwear. It was perceived much more as a practical daywear fabric and Chanel’s adoption of cotton for couture evening gowns prompted significant comment and coverage in the fashion pages in the UK, France and USA. British newspapers enthusiastically linked Chanel’s use of cotton fabrics with her interest in and involvement with leading cotton manufactures in the Lancashire area. Chanel was at this time sourcing cotton velvet from the Manchester Velvet Company in Britain, through her venture British Chanel Ltd, launched in 1932. British Chanel Ltd acted as an umbrella under which numerous British textile manufacturers produced Chanel designs. These included voiles from Ferguson Bros Ltd, Carlisle, velvets from the Manchester Velvet Company, lace from G.W. Price, Nottingham, and wool cloth from Broadhead and Graves, Huddersfield. As part of the launch, Chanel presented a collection of 130 models shown daily over a fortnight at 39 Grosvenor Square. The press hailed the venture stating, ‘Paris has shown us how to wear British’.

T.61-2024