And just like that – Chanel is back on track, baby. Matthieu Blazy’s sophomore collection for the French maison – and his first Métiers d’Art outing – is a confident step forward compared to the escapist debut we saw back in October. Blazy took New York’s subway by storm yesterday, orchestrating a life-affirming, uplifting, Lagerfeldian mise-en-scène. Yes, this one felt like one of the great Karl shows, pre–Grand Palais galore: simple, swift, witty. Real. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.
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Last season, everyone seemed to be asking the same question over and over again: “What do women want?” Whether designers provided the answers they needed remains unclear. This season, however, another crucial question arises for designers: are their clothes life-affirming? Does wearing this dress or that jacket offer the wearer an emotionally – or even spiritually – uplifting experience?
We’re living in a world where you can literally buy anything – and, amusingly, where anyone can call themselves a “designer.” That’s why those showing at Paris Fashion Week should truly consider: is this pairing essential? Am I contributing something meaningful, something with a genuine point of view, to an already overcrowded table? And perhaps most importantly: will this piece of clothing actually spark joy?
This brings us to the most anticipated debut of the season – among more than a dozen others: Chanel by Matthieu Blazy. This is a collection whose perception entirely depends on how you approach it. If you came expecting a pared-back, 1990s-inspired Chanel in the spirit of Karl Lagerfeld, then you were likely overwhelmed by the tactile exuberance of feathers, beading, and embroidery that Blazy – and the house’s métiers d’art – delivered. If you were hoping for a radical departure from Virginie Viard’s Parisian femininity, you might again be disappointed. That woman is still present – but she now looks far more contemporary, less of a cliché. And if you were a fan of Matthieu’s days at Bottega Veneta: bingo. His Chanel debut stayed within a familiar orbit (pun intended, given the space-inspired show setting), yet it was elevated by the unparalleled craftsmanship that only this house can offer a designer. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.
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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.
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There’s nothing as (heart)warming as cashmere knitwear. Barrie, one of Scotland’s oldest knitwear manufacturer and since 2012 a Chanel Métiers d’Art house, elevates that credo like no other brand. Conceived by artistic director Augustin Dol-Maillot, Barrie collections bring together creativity, heritage and the most thorough attention to detail. For autumn-winter 2023, the brand looks at the painterly Scottish landscapes for inspiration, as scenic as the regional weather can be challenging. Classic earthy shades are clashed with bright tones and pops of colour (that red used in the knee-socks and bonnets!) and a hint of sparkle are the key elements of the current season. The warmth of colours and textures applied in the knits provide a wardrobe for both, a Parisienne with her well-worn vintage 2.55 handbag, and an avid mushroom hunter who just loves a stylish forest gear.
Mark your calendars, as Barrie is dropping its capsule collection co-designed with Sofia Coppola on the 2nd of November… I’ve seen its preview, it’s really something to add to your festive wish-list! Here’s Margaret Qualley teasing the collection:
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With a snip of her ribbon-looped scissors, Gabrielle Chanel released women from their corsets and put them in fluid jersey suits and loose chemise dresses. “Nothing is more beautiful than freedom of the body,” she said. With sweeping synergy, this season’s Chanel Métiers d’Art collection by Virginie Viard was equally liberating, with a pinch of denim and CC logo added. Viard invited guests to Le19M, the newly opened building devoted to the workshops of the maison’s artisans, where she presented her most crafts-centric collection within the very same architecture that had informed its cuts and motifs. Named after the arrondissement it inhabits, the triangular Le19M was designed by Rudy Ricciotti whose “concrete thread” façade evokes the intricacy of embroidered haute couture cloth. Viard echoed those lines – as well as elements from the building’s interior – in a collection she called “metropolitan.” The pre-fall 2022 line up is a combination of Chanel’s craftsmanship masters’ work – Lesage, Montex, Lemarié, Lognon, Goosens, Maison Michel, and Massaro – whose painstaking, super time-consuming, beautiful pieces of artisan work are put into the world to contribute to a bigger picture: the full look. Placing these age-old practices in a contemporary context, Viard took that look to the streets – at least those left of the River Seine. Interpreting the Chanel branding through graffiti-like embroidery, she exercised her take on the logomania. A top nestled the double-C among floral appliqué, the same logo was playfully speckled on cardigans and trousers in fluffy silver embroideries, and the Chanel name appeared tagged in multi-colored crystals across the front pockets of a tweed blouson that evoked a sweatshirt. A major Chanel tip: top the tweed outfit with an eternally charming hair bow. It took Viard a while to find her voice at Chanel and make her offerings something more than just riskless sets of the brand’s signatures. Now, the Chanel woman personifies unforced elegance and easy chic fit for contemporary times. And she sure loves gorgeous details!
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