Courtesy of Vogue Runway
Chanel is known for its longstanding tradition and heritage, something Artistic Director, Virginie Viard takes very seriously when crafting her collections, as if each one was a personal ode to Coco Chanel. Starting as an intern at the Parisian fashion house back in 1987, she has held creative direction since 2019 as the first woman at the helm of the house since Gabrielle herself. Now as she presents her well-anticipated Autumn/Winter 2023/24 collection on the final day of Paris Fashion Week, there is one signature emblem in full bloom.
The Camelia flower adorned the runway with its signature Chanel status and took centre stage (quite literately). So heavily synonymous with the fashion powerhouse, it is enduringly known as the flower of Chanel. As once proclaimed as CoCo's favourite flower it is now an eternal code of Chanel, which is celebrated throughout the latest collection imagined by Viard, elegantly reinforcing the honoured legacy of the house through the emblem.
Taking place in the Grand Palais Éphémère in Paris surrounded by darkness, an unmissable white camellia is symbolically placed in the centre of the runway. As the A-list front row arrived including Chanel's current muse, BLACKPINK's Jennie Kim, all guests found a freshly plucked camellia at their seats. The theme of the show was camellia clear, but Viard enchantingly fused countless Chanel codes from the feminine-masculine essence of the house to the timeless tweed.
It felt only right that Viard presented the camellia for the winter collection as a flower that flourishes in only in the winter. In a playful cultivation of checks and camellia clusters, the collection presented an array or intricate detailing and layering, with the house's signature colour, black at the core. Each look was adorned with bold draped costume jewellery, a notion originally presented to fashion elites by Coco herself. The combination of knee-length shorts and knee-high boots set the trend of the season in a timeless manner as the marrying of black and white was presented in flowing jersey, a fabric adored by Gabrielle when first introducing it to fashion as "comfortable and fluid" for women.
Courtesy of Vogue Runway & Chanel
The ivory camellia was crafted in countless ways throughout the coded collection of jacquard knits, asymmetric skirts, and long tweed coats. The illuminating white flowers ran across the
hems of jet-black jackets and dashed across cardigans as delicate polka dots. Effortlessly honouring Coco's distinctive love of contrast between the two colours, as the first designer responsible for revolutionizing black. Integrated into delicate patterns from embroidered tweeds to tulle gloves, the camellia was even structured into oversized earrings and engraved buttons, blooming in the most intricate details throughout the entire collection.
Courtesy of Vogue Runway & Chanel
Coco Chanel cultivated the flower as one of the signifiers of the house, it represented her simplicity with no aroma, allowing women the freedom to choose their own scent or add a drop of No5 to their look. Synonymous with her ethos, the camellia is classic and consistent with its perfect shape. It was 1913 when Chanel was first photographed with the flower pinned to her dropped waistband, becoming an icon of the house. The flower has since adorned her collections from 1923 onwards when first attached to a chiffon gown, it can now be seen from her luxurious packaging to the contemporary runway of Chanel.
Courtesy of Le Point
You can watch the whole Autumn/Winter 2023/24 show below:
All images used in this blog are either copyright free or rightfully credited. Sources can be accessed via the link below each image.
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