Chanel and Louis Vuitton close Paris Fashion Week
The stars of cinema past and present inspire Virigine Viard’s latest collection for Chanel
Hollywood merged with Paris this week as Chanel presented its latest collection on the final day of the Spring 2021 season.
Inside the airy Grand Palais, Chanel reimagined the iconic Hollywood sign in its own name, to pay homage to cinematic muses of the house, past and present.
“I was thinking about actresses at the photocall, on the red carpet, that moment when they’re being called to by the photographers: their faces a little distracted, their attitude a little out of sync with the outfits they’re wearing,” said creative director Virginie Viard.
“And then there are the fans waiting for them behind the barriers, this very lively side to cinema that happens beyond cinema, that’s what I like.”
She cited the relationships between these muses and the house’s founder, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, and Viard’s predecessor, the late Karl Lagerfeld as a starting point for the collection.
“Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld dressed so many actresses in films and in real life,” said Viard.
“I was thinking about them who make us dream so much. But without wanting to replicate. Without falling into a vintage citation. I wanted it to be very joyful, colourful, and very vibrant too.”
Given that long-ranging history, the collection inspirations spanned the 1920s through 90s, but always with a contemporary edge.
There’s no doubt that Viard has brought a more youthful, streetwise approach to the house’s high fashion since taking over after the death of Lagerfeld last year.
Fluttering tiered gowns in 1930s silhouettes and printed with an archival logo print from the era were at home alongside 80s-inspired neon logo-print T-shirts and draped dresses.
Sweet pastel pleated-skirt ensembles in the house’s signature tweed could be equally at home on an off-duty actress at Cannes in the 1960s as on the streets of the Marais today.
A teaser film from photographers Inez vam Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin cut together footage the French Nouvelle Vague and post-Vague films starring Jeanne Moreau and Romy Schneider.
While they were part of the inspiration, any number of these collection looks would be at home on house favourites Kristen Stewart and Lily-Rose Depp for press duties and photo calls.
For Viard, the house’s history includes “a whole unconscious that’s linked to cinema”.
Chanel was one of almost a third of shows that included live audiences this Paris Fashion week, under strict health protocols, while also being live-streamed.
Louis Vuitton took a similar route, with more digital trickery in place.
Held at the – finally - restored La Samaritaine department store (funded by Vuitton owner, conglomerate LVMH), it included 360-degree cameras and green screen walls onto which footage from Wim Wenders’ film Wings of Desire was integrated for those watching remotely.
Nicolas Ghesquiere’s androgynous collection for the house was heavy on 1980s themes, including bold slogan-print T-shirts and sweatshirts cinched over baggy trousers, and cropped hoodies and boxing shorts.
Accessories being key for the luxury label, next season’s hoofed heels could be an outsider pick for the season – if we can ever get ourselves out of trainers.