Storytelling collection opens with embroidered mousseline and ends with simple black dress in spirit of label’s founder
The first model on the Chanel catwalk was wearing a sheer mousseline skirt suit embroidered with delicate silk beanstalks, and carrying a tiny century-old leatherbound book of fairytales that once belonged to Coco Chanel herself. With the Lord of the Rings soundtrack booming through a stage set of giant parasol-scale poppies and lupins as tall as giraffes, the clothes narrated the stories in the pages. A row of buttons on the spine of a dress began with an ugly duckling, and ended with a swan. A Goldilocks minaudière handbag was fashioned in the shape of a golden sleeping bear. The lining of a jacket was hand-painted with a scene from Puss in Boots.
But Matthieu Blazy, holding the same book in his hands backstage after the show, told reporters that his favourite fairytale was the rags-to-riches story of Coco herself. “She climbed the ladder to find her golden goose, by making clothes for real women. Her clothes were never parodies. They were rooted in life,” Chanel’s creative director said.
A cast of women of all ages included Stephanie, a model who was celebrating her 50th birthday walking the Chanel catwalk in a red sequined dress, surely a fairytale way to mark that occasion. “That was a super-beautiful moment for us backstage,” said Blazy. “ I love the way the older women move in the clothes, and I love the mentorship and conversation they have with the younger kids.” The wedding dress that features in every couture show – bridal gowns making up a hefty chunk of orders – was demoted from finale position, so that the show closed with a sinewy little black dress that Blazy called a “revenge” dress. “It seemed like the right way to end the story, because Gabrielle [Coco] never got married.” The simple black dress channelled her spirit.
