Story | Leslie Yip Photography | Juergen Teller
The runway show in the grand gallery of the Château de Chenonceau was a dramatic backdrop for a motif echoed on sequined minis and long skirts in a fringed geometric tweed patchwork.
Other elements from the château, which span the River Cher, are reimagined in a variety of ways: flowers from the gardens are immortalized in the floral embroideries on the wide lapel of a jacket; the famous tapestries of the castle inspire the warm hues of a tweed cape and the facade of the castle adorns a bejeweled wide belt.
Chenonceau was not just a stage for the collection—it is its muse. “Showing at the Château de Chenonceau, the ‘Château des Dames’, was an obvious choice,” says Virginie Viard, creative director of Chanel. “It was designed and lived in by women, including Diane de Poitiers and Catherine de’ Medici. And Catherine de’ Medici’s emblem was a monogram composed of two intertwined Cs, just like that of Chanel.”
The Métiers d’Art ready-to-wear show is a nod to Chanel’s late creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who wanted to perpetuate French cultural legacy and an uncommon craft expertise. From the long black lace dress composed of lattices punctuated with studs by Lemarié and the top of a damask dress embroidered entirely by Lesage to the two-tone sparkling silver platform sandals and the tapered black boots made by Massaro, these artisans surely shine.
