Kyoto: Japan’s ancient capital for more than a thousand years, a refuge that’s synonymous with artistic excellence, a city where Zen took root – and a place that was the perfect setting to launch Chanel’s latest high jewellery collection.
Like the name suggests, Reach for the Stars does ooze a certain kind of otherworldliness and sense of unconditional freedom, one which is accented with that unmistakable Chanel glamour, here with a dash of sun-kissed Hollywood. At the same time, perhaps because we were in Kyoto, home to more than 1,500 temples, for the launch, there was also a feeling of quietude and balance. Kyoto, after all, was named the city of peace and tranquillity in 794, a mere 1,231 years ago.
The choice of Kyoto was notably personal: the city is where Patrice Leguéreau, former head of Chanel’s fine jewellery creation studio, who died last year, had wanted to unveil the collection. As Frédéric Grangié, Chanel’s president of watches and jewellery, touchingly said of Leguéreau, “In Japan, Patrice saw a reflection of his own commitment to high jewellery, where hand and mind unite in the pursuit of perfection. As a visionary artist and craftsman of the sublime, Patrice always viewed high jewellery as an art form, a language and a legacy.”
from left: Five Stars ring in white gold, natural diamonds, black spinels and black lacquer by CHANEL High Jewellery; Five Stars ring in white gold, natural diamonds, black spinels and black lacquer by CHANEL High Jewellery
All this was immediately captured on day one of Reach for the Stars at the Kyoto National Museum. The imposing baroque building, whose architecture nods to that of Paris’s Louvre Palace, was surrounded by manicured gardens, all overlooked by the lush green mountains of Kyoto’s Higashiyama hills in the distance. The grand architecture continued within at the Meiji Kotokan exhibition hall, scene of the launch and where remarkably high ceilings fitted with glass offered an open stage on which to showcase the jewels.
Greeting visitors was the hero Wings of Chanel necklace, a spectacular long diamond necklace dangling with an incredible 19.55-carat padparadscha sapphire in a warm pink and orange hue. Transformable to a bracelet or just sensually worn down the back, the jewel came paired with a ring set in a stunning 8.15-carat oval-cut diamond. Both creations celebrated the wing, a new motif for the house that joins existing design codes like the comet and lion. The new wing motif took flight from a motto from Gabrielle Chanel herself: “If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing,” she told Vogue France in September 1938.
from left: Dreams Come True ring and cuff in white gold, black-coated gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery; Free Move earring in white gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery
That sense of aspiration and freedom – a desire to reach for the stars, so to speak – was at the essence of this collection. The wing motif felt strong and empowered, full of air and movement. Coco Chanel notably embodied this mood in 1931 too, when she flew to Hollywood at the request of producer Samuel Goldwyn, who had asked her to dress the actresses working for the United Artists studio, which he used to release all his films. Chanel’s costumes appeared in films like Tonight or Never (1931) and The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932), while her Hollywood sojourn also inspired her creativity anew. Back in Paris a year after her trip, she unveiled her jewellery collection, Bijoux de Diamants, at her mansion on 29 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. This was the first and only high jewellery collection the designer would ever produce and, like so many of her bold and visionary creations, had a lasting legacy. Ninety years later, the 1932 high jewellery collection became an entire line dedicated to this historic moment, and pretty much a sell-out at that.
Chanel’s time in Hollywood certainly made its way into Reach for the Stars: think distinct American glamour encapsulated in dazzling diamond cascades and imposing necklaces paired with statement-making, multi-carat, multi-finger cocktail rings. The idea of sun-drenched, golden-hour days, projected by Cinemascope of course, was also omnipresent. “We wanted to create pieces of jewellery that are illuminated by the rays of the sunset and beyond, with those colours blazing across the horizon,” say the notes from the Chanel fine jewellery creation studio. “Capturing that magical moment between day and night when high jewellery sparkles on the skin.”
Dazzling Star necklace in white gold, natural diamonds and black lacquer, Dreams Come True cuff and ring in white gold, black-coated gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery
Cue the Pink Hour and Sunny Days suites, which are dressed with the wing motifs. The former features a stunning pink gold necklace cascading with pink sapphire beads, all topped with a rakish, gem-set wing set against a cool pink star with a 2.29-carat oval-cut pink sapphire in the centre. A pair of asymmetrical earrings complemented the theme, with a 4.01-carat pear- shaped pink sapphire hanging from a star. Sunny Days took on the same sundowner vibe – with wings again – in golden orange, yellow and pink hues thanks to a mix of spessartite garnets, yellow sapphires and beryl, pink spinels and rock crystal. Dusk’s golden-pink palette then transitions into a dark, twinkling night: an After Midnight suite features a wing and star necklace that dangles with a glamorous gradation of tanzanite beads.
In keeping with the design language, the wing also celebrated Kyoto’s renown as a centre for artistic craft and excellence. Leguéreau worked closely with a local artisan to create a set of five one-of-a-kind lacquer brooches, their wing designs also a subtle nod to Plume de Chanel, a feather-themed high jewellery collection created in 2013. True works of art, each brooch is painted with fine lacquer details such as delicate red, black and gold feather-like strokes that play off yellow sapphires and spessartite garnets in one piece. While a striking jet-black wing bedecked with graphic neon lacquer stars in another alongside a flourish of sapphires and diamonds. Chicly and simply displayed in a single row, the five brooches were a true sight to behold, mesmerising and moving in their detailed craftsmanship and the ultimate collector’s pieces for a lucky owner.
from left: Dazzling Star necklace in white gold, natural diamonds and black lacquer by CHANEL High Jewellery; Take My Breath Away earring and bracelet in pink gold, black-coated gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery
With Reach for the Stars emblazoned in our minds and firmly setting the scene, we ventured off to explore the best of Kyoto. We stopped for lunch in Gion, Kyoto’s bustling cultural hub, where the endless machiya wooden houses offer a new discovery behind each wooden, latticed, shoji sliding door.
The day culminated in a cocktail evening at the exquisite Daitoku-ji temple, a masterpiece of Zen architecture and garden landscaping that dates back to the 1300s. Later synonymous with the finest Japanese tea ceremonies and renowned tea masters, Daitoku-ji comprises some two dozen sub-temples, one of which, Ōbai-in, is rarely open to the public and which Chanel hired for its high jewellery launch. Home to one of Japan’s most exquisite gardens, the Buddhist temple is the kind of place that inspires one to slow down and truly live in the moment, taking in the soothing green space around the temple rooms, each opening up one after the other.
How tranquil and calming were the verdant, moss-covered grounds, set with carefully placed rock formations, shrubs and trees, all impeccably lined with raked gravel formations. Guests were treated to musical performances and a demonstration by an origami master, plus a local calligraphist whose ancestors are linked to the Ōbai-in temple. Also on display was a one-of-a-kind pen, intricately crafted with painted lacquer, another work of art that Leguéreau commissioned.
from left: Full Swing earring in white gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery; Pretty Wings Sapphire earring in pink gold, diamonds and pink sapphires, Pink Hour necklace in pink gold, diamonds and pink sapphire beads by CHANEL High Jewellery
After two days of glorious June sunshine, the heavens opened up with a torrential downpour, which didn’t quite make for the most ideal conditions to visit Kyoto’s Imperial Palace and golden Kinkaku-ji temple. By evening, however, as our car was winding through the lush forests of eastern Kyoto, the rain had stopped and the skies were awash with those exact pink and golden dusky tones that Reach for the Stars had duly ordered. We finally arrived at Shogunzuka Seiryuden Temple, which is perched atop Mount Higashiyama and offers vast, panoramic views of the city and its surrounding terrain. This is supposedly where, in the eighth century, Emperor Kammu came to observe the land before ordering Kyoto’s construction as the national capital in 794.
On an immense terrace hung with gorgeous rice paper lamps graphically illustrated with the collection’s key motifs – lion, wing and comet – guests watched the sun dip below Kyoto’s cityscape, joined by celebrities such as Australian-Taiwanese actress Hannah Quinlivan and Japanese actress Nana Komatsu. The latter sparkled in the collection’s Take My Breath Away suite, shimmering with a diamond-set star and coolly juxtaposing jet-black, diamond-like carbon fibre with sensual pink gold. As the sky turned dark, a spectacular drone show appeared above, shimmering over Kyoto’s lights and creating twinkling outlines of Chanel’s signature comet, star and wings, and finally the text ‘Reach for the Stars’.
from left: Touch the Sky necklace in white gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery; Full Swing earring in white gold and natural diamonds by CHANEL High Jewellery
Inside the temple, chefs Kei Kojima and Ariitea Rossignol presided over a sumptuous menu; the pair are part of the Alain Ducasse team and on a hiatus from Tokyo’s Park Hyatt hotel, which is preparing to reopen in the autumn after a much-anticipated revamp. A starter of spelt and vegetables from Kansai was followed by the most delicious seared beef tenderloin with charred aubergine. A delectable chocolate and vanilla sunset dessert rounded out the meal, with the evening culminating in a goosebump-inducing, hair-raising performance with Japanese taiko drums that thundered through the ancient temple.
At once transcendent and powerful, but also extremely moving and meditative, Reach for the Stars was best summed up by Grangié at the gala evening. “Patrice was supposed to be here with us. He was the soul of the collection and he passed away too soon,” he said. “But at the same time, I really wanted this to be a celebration of Chanel high jewellery, of his legacy over the years… What you have here is a very, very important collection. I think it will make a lot of sense 20 years from now, 30 years from now. When you think about high jewellery, only the long-term prevails.”
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 75 – BIRTHDAY, EVOLVE, TRANSFORMATION – out on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
CHANEL HIGH JEWELLERY: STARGAZING
Photographer PAK BAE
Creative Director DORA FUNG
Text MING LIU
Model RINA FUKUSHI at Ipsilon Models
Hair YU NAGATOMO at Home Agency
Make-up and manicurist ASAMI TAGUCHI at Home Agency
Photographer’s assistants MINSEOK KANG and JOOYOUN LEE
Casting SHIMANA at SMN Casting
Production HK Productions
