Chanel goes to the opera while Dior nods to sports with jersey fabrics
PARIS — Chanel held its haute couture show at the Paris Palais Garnier Opera house on Tuesday last week, displaying a lineup of sparkly evening wear that ranged from trim, embellished tweed ensembles to voluminous, silk taffeta capes. (See the show here: https://tinyurl.com/3ue83bm8 )
Models emerged from the tiny doors of the historic building’s private boxes and marched down the corridors, where the audience was seated on plush, red chairs under a low, mirrored ceiling.
They paraded jackets covered with bows, bustier dresses with cinched waists and fitted coats; sandals were open-toed, with short, crystal-coated heels with a ring of pearls.
A traditional bride closed the show, in a floor-sweeping gown with long, puffy sleeves and a train that trailed behind.
The show was held as the French luxury house enters a transition period and gears up for design reset, following the surprise announcement early in June of the departure of longtime creative director Virginie Viard, who had worked alongside Karl Lagerfeld for decades before succeeding him after his death in 2019.
Ms. Viard’s departure has kicked off a flurry of speculation about who will next take the industry’s most coveted designer job.
Tuesday’s venue also marked a departure for Chanel, which traditionally holds its shows at the French capital’s soaring glass and steel Grand Palais building, and, as it undergoes renovations, a temporary replacement structure under the Eiffel Tower.
CHRISTIAN DIOR
Christian Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri nodded to sports with an haute couture runway show in Paris on Monday that featured jersey fabrics worked into draped, asymmetric gowns. (See the show here: https://tinyurl.com/7bhh9y59)
Models in flat, gladiator sandals marched past colorful mosaics — towering portraits of athletes in action, drawn from artwork by American artist Faith Ringgold — and paraded flowing dresses, racer-backed tops and embroidered bodysuits.
The fall/winter 2024-2025 haute couture outing from the LVMH-owned label came as France gears up to host the summer Olympics, and follows a week of men’s fashion shows.
Vogue took over the epicenter of French luxury, the Place Vendome, on Sunday last week with its Vogue World fashion event, a show that mixed fashion, sports and celebrity with performances from hundreds of athletes.
Construction of Olympics venue sites has pushed some fashion shows to the outskirts of the French capital’s city center, but the Dior show last Monday was held in a traditional venue — a tent in the Rodin Museum garden.
The Paris haute couture shows ran to June 27, with labels including Chanel, Thom Browne, Kering-owned Balenciaga and Jean Paul Gaultier on the schedule. — Reuters
