Chanel Metiers D'Art

When Virginie Viard is inspired, she nails it. Her latest Chanel métiers d’art collection presented in Manchester was just brilliant and full of wit. It’s clear that the city and its culture has truly stimulated the designer. Alive with a vibrant pop spirit born in Manchester and kept alive across the decades, the show embraced the creative dialogue between Great Britain and the brand – a dialogue that was started by Coco Chanel herself when she brought British tweed to Paris. The collection shimmers and shines with playful nods to British music culture, and it’s also an ode to the frazzled British woman all layered up in chunky knits and long scarves. Legendary bands like Oasis and Joy Division call Manchester home, after all, and the models – with their pearls, slept-in black eyeliner and side bangs – appeared as though they might have just washed off a hand stamp after sneaking back from a show at Pip’s Disco. “Manchester is the basis of a music culture that has changed the face of the world,” sais Viard. To play off of the “vibrant pop spirit” that she infused in the house’s tweeds and quilted leather, models were given smudged-up reverse eyeliner that read like slept-in makeup after a night of chasing afterparties. At dusk, as the looks strolled down the umbrella-dotted outdoor runway on Thomas Street to the sounds of Soft Cell and New Order, this appeared to be one of the finest Chanel collections by Viard to date.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Chanel‘s Métiers d’Art collection shown in Dakar was a thoroughly considered, deep dialogue between the brand and the Senegalese culture and community. Best testimony to that were Virginie Viard‘s words: “This conversation is not going to end here today. And it’s not a question that we have to continue it – we don’t. We are going to do it because we like it very much.” For Chanel to choose to present its first-ever show in Africa – and simultaneously the first show to be presented by any European or US house anywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa – was an ambitious move. At a fittings appointment pre-show, backstage in the Senegalese capital’s former Palais de Justice (now home to its art Biennale), Viard said that the idea first took hold three years ago. Two years of Covid-enforced hiatus followed, before scouting began. “When we first came to this place, Dakar, it was really incredible, and we knew,” she said. The Métiers d’Art event felt like a respectful exploration of cultural affinities – an interweaving of the pre-existing to create something entirely new. Much of that atmosphere was generated by all of the many Senegal-facing activities, but it was also inherent – albeit more discreetly – in the fabric of the collection itself. The lion motif that reappeared on jewelry and bags was a dual reference to the emblem of Senegal and the sign of Coco Chanel. Viard also looked beyond Senegal. The tailoring and menswear shapes were informed by Congo’s sartorialist Sapeur subculture, as were the heftily commando-soled shoes. Almost invisible after long and complex processes of fabric development, some of the beading materials and patterns were rooted in source material from Africa. Talking drums and surfboards were other talismanic symbols of place and connection integrated into the language of the pieces. The broader context was 1970s-inflected: casual, unpretentious, and free. Michel Gaubert’s soundtrack of freshly-released Sault tracks provided a dreamy dimension. At the end of this show guests lingered and the hubbub of conversation steadily increased. Those guests included Senegal’s first lady, Madame Marième Sall, and four government ministers (three of them female). The models changed into their off-duty clothes and joined the party. This collection was Viard’s most bold and reflective move since her appointment as the maison‘s creative director.