Es Devlin and Chanel Brand Experience in Peckham

Fashion, art and fragrance collide with a Chanel brand experience thanks to Es Devlin’s brilliant experiential Mirror Maze.

Brilliant because the public were able to experience a theatrical experience for free. Brilliant because it made use of a massive space behind Forza Win restaurant at Copeland Park which I haven’t seen used for anything so far. There is so much amazing space at Copeland Park and the Bussey Building which is perfect for this type of experiential art installation.

Totally excited to find out that Chanel were doing an event in my local area of downtown Peckham…wow we really are on the up…!

Also was excited to see another luxury brand taking their marketing to the next level by creating brand experiences which promote artists and subtly promote Chanel.

The Chanel Brand Experience
There was a magical entrance to the mirror maze which eased us in. We sat and watched a film of hands at work which sculpted a face etching and marking the canvas infront of us. A hypnotic way to enter the space I was ready to be entertained.

The warehouse space was huge and full of curbed, faceted mirrors echoing Coco Chanel’s 1920s mirrored staircase at her Rue Cambon apartment in Paris. The space was a fun place to explore, take photos and see oneself in thousands of different facets at thousands of angles.

We finally found the dramatic video at the end which was an explosion of colour and sound also reflecting in mirrors creating a truly immersive experience which I loved from a visual perspective. I did however find it hard to see the association with Chanel and perfume through the video. We had a ‘Chanel brand experience’ which was very ‘lacking in Chanel’. It was more of an Es Devlin brand experience.

To bring the experience to an end we were invited into the final room, a massive pale pink haze of Chanel’s new scent which was created specifically for the five day experience.

All of the senses were heightened and I enjoyed the wonderland on my Sunday afternoon. However somehow I think the connection between Chanel, ES Devlin and perfume could have been much stronger. It was experiential but definitely a bit abstract!
www.esdevlin.com