Coco Chanel’s love of nature was the leitmotif of this season’s couture collection from the house, unveiled with poise and precision inside the newly renovated Grand Palais on a cloudy Tuesday morning.
The collection marked the last of seven created by the brand’s in-house studio, and it was a very admirable finale. The third official successor to Coco, Matthieu Blazy, will present his debut collection for Chanel in late September during the next Paris ready-to-wear runway season.
Sportingly, Matthieu took a seat front row at the show, in a set that mimicked the famed Art Deco salon Coco created on rue Cambon, still the beating heart of France’s most famous fashion label.
Hence, before huge paneled mirrors and beige drapes, carpeted runway and suede seating, the models marched in classic-with-a-twist Chanel.
Playing on Coco’s biographer Louise de Vilmorin’s reference to her as a “shepherdess,” the collection contained acres of tweed, a fabric she grew to love from her visits to the giant north Scotland estate of her longtime lover, the Duke of Westminster. In a show that also recalled Mademoiselle Chanel’s love of wheat, a plant she associated with good fortune. A wheat stalk painted gold was placed on each guest’s seat.
Playing with that idea, the light, almost creamy tweeds seemed to separate into fringes—or husks even—in some ingenious work by embroiderer Maison Lesage.
Created in a narrow palette of beige, ecru, white, and black, the clothes looked supremely at home in a set that resembled a Chanel space capsule.
The cast marched in a fast-paced figure eight during the show, wearing many looks anchored by cool, modernist knubby boots cut to the knee or high up the thigh.
To the studio’s credit, they took plenty of risks with tailoring, cutting novel three-piece suits in wool bouclé. Made of the short classic Chanel jackets and belted mini skirts over culottes.
For the evening, the look was a jazzed-up Art Deco style, featuring wraparound satin skirts that reached well below the knee, all paired with beautiful singlets and boleros embellished with crystal flowers.
Some of the evening looks felt a tad tricky, even overburdened with fringes and Catherine de Medici collars, but it was nonetheless admirable to see a few risks being taken. And one had to love several sexier frosted looks in black and white—whether the satin halter-neck dresses or sheer blouses over lace bras.
Before the Marianne—the traditional bride that ends all couture shows—strode about in a marvelous white lace concoction, topped with glistening jade beads.
The cast gathered at the finale on a stairwell topped by a recreation of the white stucco archway before which Coco liked to be photographed. A last homage to the founder, which one imagines Coco would have loved.
Like many luxury labels, Chanel suffered a downturn in sales last year—though to a measured degree—as annual revenues slipped 4% to $18.7 billion. That meant that Chanel maintained its global leadership in high-end fashion and also made over $5 billion in adjusted EBITDA. Not bad going for a tricky year.
All told, given market conditions, this in-house studio team—which never once took a bow—brought off a pretty impressive run. Even accepting that the brand did lose momentum and clearly needed a new leader.
So, roll on September, and the debut of Matthieu Blazy at Chanel. Paris cannot wait.
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