Chanel Plans to Stage Métiers d’Art Show at French Chateau
PARIS — Even before it holds its first physical fashion show since the coronavirus pandemic sent France into lockdown, Chanel has announced plans for a second event with guests in attendance: the French fashion house plans to unveil its annual Métiers d’Art collection on Dec. 1 at the Château de Chenonceau, one of the jewels of the Loire valley.
Traditionally a traveling show that has alighted in destinations including Shanghai, Rome, Edinburgh, Salzburg and Dallas, the Métiers d’Art show was held in Paris last December in the wake of the death of Chanel’s longtime creative director Karl Lagerfeld earlier in the year.
Chanel is expected to be one of the first major brands to return to the catwalk this fall, with its show at the Grand Palais on Oct. 6 scheduled to be one of the highlights of Paris Fashion Week, which should also see brands including Dior, Louis Vuitton and Hermès welcome guests in a socially distanced manner.
Chanel showcased its 2021 cruise and fall 2021 couture collections with digital presentations, but Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, said in June that the French luxury house planned to resume its normal pace of collections and runway shows as soon as health conditions allow.
“The fashion show remains the best way to express the brand’s creativity and know-how,” he explained.
Creative director Virginie Viard’s ready-to-wear show at the Grand Palais next month will be the last before the venue undergoes extensive renovations ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024.
Chanel had planned to move its shows to a temporary venue at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, so its decision to venture out of the French capital for the Métiers d’Art show marks a departure for the house. It hopes to welcome guests at the event, unless the situation and consequent health obligations change in the interim.
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