Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
“I knew that we couldn’t organize a big show, that we would have to invent something else, so I had the idea of a small procession [procession] that went down the stairs of the Grand Palais and passed under flower arches ”, says Chanel designer Virginie Viard of her haute couture collection in the spring of 2021, shown in Paris on Tuesday morning. “Like a family party, a wedding …”
The show was sunny and intimate, with the aim of evoking a bohemian-style ceremony in the south of France. Only a few members of Chanel’s inner circle testified: Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Lily-Rose Depp and her mother, Vanessa Paradis, all sat in a row socially distant from the front. (Unfortunately, without Kristen Stewart this time.) As the models paraded past them on a rose petal catwalk to sweet love songs like “Be My Baby”, Cotillard and Paradis smiled as if they were their own daughters walking down the hall . I kind of expected them to get a tissue.
The whole thing was like a Valentine’s Day card coming to life, complete with a valentine candy color palette. But the clothes were cool – surprisingly, for something as traditionally exaggerated as haute couture. (Or weddings.) Pieces like a silk button shirt with a large tulle skirt had an ease and sophistication for them, balancing the feminine aesthetic. Low waist, which allows models to walk with their hands in their pockets. (And show a touch of stomach, adding some sensuality necessary for a wedding in the south of France.) The fabrics were light as powdered sugar. And everyone wore sensitive heels. You had a feeling that the dance would happen later.
From the left: Photo: Courtesy of ChanelPhoto: Courtesy of Chanel
From the left: Photo: Courtesy of ChanelPhoto: Courtesy of Chanel
From the left: Photo: Courtesy of ChanelPhoto: Courtesy of Chanel
From the left: Photo: Courtesy of ChanelPhoto: Courtesy of Chanel
It has always been difficult to imagine haute couture fitting into real life, and this is especially true now. But Viard, who was always a little softer and more sentimental than his predecessor, Karl Lagerfeld, managed to paint a picture that was both dreamlike and practical. I wanted to book a one-way ticket right away.