Chanel calls time on extravagant Paris fashion shows
Paris – Chanel may be about to bring down the curtain on its ultra-spectacular Paris fashion shows, its new designer Virginie Viard hinted Monday, as the French brand revealed its first collection since the coronavirus crisis.
Extravagant, hugely theatrical shows on enormous sets inside the French capital’s Grand Palais became synonymous with the luxury label during the long reign of German designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died last year.
But his discreet successor Viard, the Kaiser’s longtime righthand woman, said recreating almost life-sized space rockets, jumbo jets, river gorges, Eiffel Towers and even complete Alpine villages with snow and ski slopes was not her thing.
“I have never been a fan of pharaonic shows, even if they were great with Karl,” she told the French daily Le Figaro.
“Sometimes he would ask me, ‘Is it too much?’ and I would reply, ‘For you it is great but I dream of a little show’,” Viard added.
Even so, she said that coronavirus permitting, Chanel would return to the Grand Palais for its next show during Paris fashion week in October.
Viard, 58, revealed the cruise collection through a studio-shot film evoking the Italian island of Capri, where the show was supposed to have been unveiled in May.
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The daughter of two doctors, Viard said she was not immune to the effects of the coronavirus which she said has “left us all feeling more fragile”, and therefore steered clear of evening dresses.
Viard said the clothes will be in the shops in November along with her summer collection which has been eclipsed by the Covid-19 crisis, and confirmed that Chanel’s haute couture collection will be ready to show in Paris in July, when the shows will be held digitally. - AFP
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