March 8, 2023 |
At the heart of the Chanel show was the camellia. “The camellia is more than a theme, it’s an eternal code of the House,” said Virginie Viard, who placed two huge models of the winter flower at either end of her runway. “I find it reassuring and familiar. I like its softness and its strength,” said the designer.
The level of craft was intense. Viard used the camellia as a motif throughout the collection – embroidered onto tweed coats, clustering on the lapels of a leather jacket, woven into lace bike shorts, fashioned into buttons and forming the clasps on bags – she contrasted its prettiness with boyish Bermuda shorts suits and sweeping masculine tweed or leather coats. Viard talked of “a certain English vibe” in the comfortable, wrapped-up, layered look of the collection. The designer referenced sixties and seventies silhouettes. Shapes were long and enveloping or short and breezy. It felt grounded, fit for real life. Viard put it best, describing the mood as, “more real, and more charming too.”
Photography courtesy of Chanel.
