Before we go any further, I would like to inform you about a public service announcement. Despite the deafening chorus of rumors, Chanel isn’t ready to announce its next designer.
“There is no immediate announcement, I can absolutely confirm that,” Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, told WWD before the show. “It’s going to take a little bit more time, and at this point we have no idea when that will change.”
In its first ready-to-wear show without a creative director following the sudden departure of Virginie Viard in June, Chanel returned to the Grand Palais with a set worthy of the Karl Lagerfeld era.
It wasn’t on the scale of his rockets and icebergs, but it was a suitably striking white, inspired by a 1991 Coco fragrance ad featuring Vanessa Paradis on a giant swing and croaking like a canary. It was a birdcage.
After a week of downpours, bright blue skies took to the skies to unveil a collection rooted in flight. Almost every look was trimmed with tufts of real feathers or feathers made from shredded chiffon or tulle petals.
The inspiration was a little-known photo of founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel swinging a scarf atop a mountain. “People always wanted to put me in a cage,” she reportedly said on a card left on a seat at the show.
The studio team channeled her independent spirit with 60s-inspired monochrome tweed skirt suits with split skirts and skorts for ease of movement, belted jumpsuits and tweed aviator jackets with ruffled feather collars.
Chanel is a major patron of the Grand Palais, which recently reopened after a four-year renovation, and its towering steel-and-glass geometry features rectangular checks in tweed and sheer black lampshades. This was reflected in the arched lattice motif on the skirt.
Fragrant evening gowns trimmed with ostrich feathers are complemented by classic pieces such as pastel-hued knit and crochet dresses, show-stopping jeans, and silk charmeuse separates with colorful feather prints. were also available.
Handbags ranged from a new quilted bucket bag with side pockets to a black mesh mini crescent style and a small gold birdcage.
Due to their respect for house codes, the lineup didn’t skyrocket, but it was a solid starting point for those coming next.
Bridging past and present, Chanel has a cast of familiar faces like Natasha Polley, Lindsey Wixson, and Mariacarla Boscono, who wear black coats that blend into rows of grey-blue ostrich feathers. She stood out in her tweed coat.
Paradis slipped in midway through to watch brand ambassador Riley Keough, wearing a black tweed jumpsuit and black chiffon cape, close the show by singing Prince’s “When Doves Cry” while hanging from the rafters.
By an unfortunate coincidence, Stella McCartney used a cover version of the same song recorded by Patti Smith the day before to close her show calling for an end to the use of feathers in fashion.
But Chanel now has an even bigger problem. While the spring collection was a commendable effort, it also underscored the urgency of restoring creative vision to the $20 billion brand.
“It’s fundamental. It’s how you project yourself into the future and project your brand with a 360-degree vision. It’s not just about the design of the collection, but also how you present the collection,” Pavlovsky said. Ta. “It’s important that all of this materializes again in the coming months.”
The executive previously said that the Métiers d’art exhibition, scheduled to open in Hangzhou, China on December 3, will also be part of the company’s efforts. When asked about his January haute couture collection, he was evasive.
The ongoing search operation has created a pressure cooker atmosphere around Chanel, coinciding with a turbulent period for major luxury brands. “There’s a lot of tension at the moment surrounding designer moves, and we’re trying hard to avoid conflict,” Pavlovsky said.
Names such as Simon Port Jacquemus and Peter Moulier have been touted for his role, but the executive gave little hint.
“I’m not specifically looking for big name designers. I’m looking for people who are passionate about the current brand and want to take it into the future,” he said. “We need people with a product-driven vision that is truly at the core of our brand.”
The brief brings to mind another of the perennially rumored candidates, Hedi Slimane. His spring collection, unveiled online on Sunday, could read like an audition reel, with its deft storytelling and overt nods to Gabrielle Chanel. “It’s an honor to see how Chanel continues to inspire,” Pavlovsky said.
Chanel, which is hiring an outside candidate for the first time in 40 years, can’t be faulted for acting cautiously. “It’s an important choice. This is not a short-term decision. We don’t have to change it again in three years. We want to have a long-term relationship,” he said.
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