Before we proceed, a public service announcement: contrary to a deafening chorus of rumors, Chanel is not ready to reveal its next designer.
“There will be no immediate announcement — that I can absolutely confirm,” Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, told WWD before the show. “It’s going to take a while longer and right now, I have no visibility on when that might change.”
For its first ready-to-wear show without a creative director, following the surprise departure of Virginie Viard in June, Chanel returned to the Grand Palais with a set worthy of the Karl Lagerfeld era.
It wasn’t quite on the scale of his rocket or iceberg, but was a suitably imposing white birdcage inspired by a 1991 Coco fragrance ad featuring Vanessa Paradis trilling like a canary on a giant swing.
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After a week of downpours, glorious blue skies preceded a collection rooted in flight. Almost every look was tufted and trimmed with feathers, both real or made of shredded chiffon and tulle petals.
The inspiration was a little-known photograph of founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel on a mountaintop, brandishing a fluttering scarf. “People have always wanted to put me in a cage,” she was quoted as saying on a card left on seats at the show.
The studio team channeled her independent spirit with ‘60s-flavored monochrome tweed skirt suits that came with split skirts or skorts for freedom of movement, and belted jumpsuits and tweed aviator jackets with ruffled feather collars.
Chanel is a major patron of the Grand Palais, which recently reopened after four years of renovations, and its soaring geometric steel-and-glass structure was mirrored in rectangular checks on tweed, and arched lattice motifs on sheer black lampshade skirts.
Alongside vaporous evening gowns trimmed with ostrich feathers were bread-and-butter items such as pastel-colored knits and crochet dresses, bedazzled jeans and silk charmeuse separates in colorful feather prints.
Handbags ranged from the house’s new quilted bucket bags with side pockets, to a black mesh mini crescent style and a little gold birdcage.
With its reverence toward house codes, the lineup did not soar, but it made a solid springboard for whoever comes next.
Bridging past and present, Chanel sprinkled its cast with familiar faces including Natasha Poly, Lindsey Wixson and Mariacarla Boscono, who stood out in a black tweed coat that dissolved into rows of grayish blue ostrich feathers.
Paradis slipped in midway through to watch brand ambassador Riley Keough, wearing a black tweed jumpsuit trailing a black chiffon cape, close the show by singing Prince’s “When Doves Cry” while swinging from the rafters.
By an unhappy coincidence, Stella McCartney used the same song the day before — in a cover version recorded by Patti Smith — to close her show, which called for an end to using feathers in fashion.
But Chanel has bigger issues right now. While the spring collection was a creditable effort, it also highlighted the urgency of bringing back a creative vision for the $20 billion brand.
“It’s fundamental. It’s a way to project yourself into the future and to project the brand with a 360-degree vision. It’s about the design of the collections, but also the way you present them,” Pavlovsky said. “It’s important for all this to take shape again in the coming months.”
The executive previously said the Métiers d’Art show on Dec. 3, due to take place in Hangzhou, China, would be another in-house effort. He hedged when asked about the haute couture collection in January.
Coinciding with a period of upheaval at major luxury houses, the ongoing search has created a pressure-cooker atmosphere around Chanel. “There’s a lot of tension around designer transfers right now, and we’re really trying to stay above the fray,” Pavlovsky said.
While names including Simon Porte Jacquemus and Pieter Mulier have been touted for the job, the executive provided few hints.
“I’m not particularly looking for a big-name designer. I’m looking for someone who’s passionate about the brand as it stands today, and who wants to bring it into the future,” he said. “We need someone with a product-driven vision, as they are the true core of our brand.”
That brief brings up another perennially rumored candidate, Hedi Slimane, whose spring collection, unveiled online on Sunday, could be read as an audition reel, with its slick storytelling and overt nods to Gabrielle Chanel. “It’s an honor to see how Chanel continues to inspire,” Pavlovsky said.
As it seeks to recruit an external candidate for the first time in four decades, Chanel can’t be blamed for treading carefully. “It’s an important choice. This is not a short-term decision. We don’t want to have to change again in three years. We’re looking to build a long-term relationship,” he said.