Everyone loves a great Chanel destination show. This December, the French House took its aficionados and select members of the press to Hangzhou, China, to present its latest 2024/25 Métiers d’art collection. Why? Often called “the heaven on Earth” for the beauty of its emblematic West Lake, a Unesco World Heritage Site, where the show took place, it’s now got a new moniker: the Silicone Valley of Asia (local digital unicorns Alibaba, Taobao and Alipay are all based there). Bref, Hangzhou is the new place to be. Here is everything you need to know about the collection.
While we are all waiting for the name of the next creative director of Chanel (who will it be Matthieu Blazy? Jacquemus? Hedi Slimane? Marc Jacobs? Luke and Lucie Meier?) after the sudden departure of Virginie Viard earlier this year, the French House shows that everything is alright, and the creative studio is feeling pretty confident on its own. The new Métiers d’art collection - that’s what Chanel calls its prefall destination shows full of local references but also couture techniques from the best French feather workers, embroiderers, milliners and goldsmiths - draws its inspiration from one of the most cherished items Gabrielle Chanel had possession of in her Rue Cambon apartment: her 32 Coromandel screens, including one specific that featured a map of Hangzhou and it’s beautiful lake, temples, pagodas and bridges. Developed in the late Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), the hand-made oriental screens featured floral motifs in jade green, pink and sky blue colours, which Mademoiselle Chanel was always fond of - hence they were omnipresent in the collection. So this time the oriental codes from lacquered Coromandel screens were translated directly into the world of haute couture thanks to Chanel’s Métiers d’Art Ateliers, who embroidered the signature tweed jackets with camelia flowers (Mademoiselle’s passion for the iconic flower was indeed inspired by Chinese artistry), and pencil skirts with a motif featuring birds sitting on tree benches that required hundreds of hours to complete. Other highlights included a selection of black opera coats and a series of gilded gold silhouettes - another nod to the Coromandel screen colour palette. The collection also featured straight-cut jackets with pagoda sleeves, cropped trousers, mini-skirts styled with colourful stockings adorned with florals and knitwear with similar intricate motifs that will definitely become bestsellers among Chanel customers. The main accessory? The strings of pearls, symbolic of both Parisian fashion and Chinese crafts.
The models literally walked on water to the sounds of traditional Chinese drums - the show took place on an impromptu wooden catwalk - giving the industry a sign that at Chanel, the second-largest luxury brand in the world, everything is possible. Even a triumph without a creative director.
Courtesy: Chanel
Text: Lidia Ageeva