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Last night Chanel unveiled its Cruise collection through a fashion show shot in the Carrières de Lumières in Baux-de-Provence. On the menu? A half-punk, half-chic collection in a black and white atmosphere, at the heart of a celebration of the friendship between Cocteau and Gabrielle Chanel.
The fashion show was a bit special for this 2021-2022 edition: only a few of the brand’s guests were present due to the health crisis. However, they were able to ensure a smooth showcase at the end of the fashion show, led by Sébastien Tellier, accompanied by his white piano and the brand’s ambassadors such as Vanessa Paradis, Charlotte Casiraghi, Angèle and Juliette Armanet.
First of all, why the careers of light? “Because Gabrielle Chanel was close to Cocteau, and I love the film The Testament of Orpheus. In particular this magnificent scene: a man with a black horse’s head descends into the Carrières de Lumières, his silhouette silhouetted against the very white walls”, confides Virginie Viard, the firm’s artistic director. In fact, in the early 1920s, Cocteau called on the woman he considered “the greatest dressmaker of her time” to make the costumes for three of his tragedies: Antigone, Orpheus and Oedipus Rex.
The choice of the site was an obvious one for the artistic director. She fell in love with it immediately when she discovered Le Testament d’Orphée, filmed by Jean Cocteau in 1959. “The Carrières de Lumière are unique and impressive. Right from the entrance, with this large door that opens onto the night, then the quarries, in full daylight. It’s the most beautiful place in the world for a fashion show,” she says.
3 words to sum up the show: white, black and light.
“It’s poetic, strong, simple and so right. It made me want to do a very clean collection, black and white, all in contrast, with touches of punk,” says the artistic director.
To honour Jean Cocteau, the collection unveils black and white prints composed of the Chanel logo and horses, immaculate long dresses, white and embroidered tweed jackets, black velvet, black macramé capes, fringed tweed skirts, flowers, embroidered birds…
The collection also reveals for the first time the house’s famous suits in an eco-responsible tweed created by the embroiderer Lesage with more than 70% recycled yarns and certified by the GOTS label (Global Organic Textile Standard).
But Virginie Viard added a rock touch to her models, giving them a punk and sixties look. “Echoing the extreme modernity of Cocteau’s film, I wanted something quite rocky. Lots of fringes, leather, pearls or sequins, T-shirts bearing the effigy of the model Lola Nicon like a rock star, worn with tweed suits trimmed with large braids, pointed silver babies. A look that recalls both the modernity of the sixties and that of punk…”, she describes.
Read also > THE CAREER OF LIGHTS HOST THE CHANEL CRUISE SHOW
Featured Photo : © Chanel[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
