The Chanel AW24 show at Paris Fashion Week opened with a short black and white film featuring Penélope Cruz and Brad Pitt, a couple at the beginning of a love story, in a tribute to the film A Man and a Woman by French director Claude Lelouch.
It sees them flirt and grab dinner in Deauville, the French coastal town that is the inspiration behind the collection imagined by Virginie Viard.
The town holds a special place in the history of Chanel. It inspired Gabrielle Chanel to create her famous relaxed nautical looks, inspired by sailors' marinières tops with their wide collars and black ties, which can be seen throughout the collection.
It was also the location of her first boutique in 1912, in which she sold ready-to-wear and hats, which were the star of the show in all their wide-brimmed, floppy glory.
“Deauville is where everything started for the House. 1912, the creation of her hat shop and then very quickly the first clothes with their visionary, radical style. It’s where it all began for Gabrielle Chanel. This story is very close to my heart,” confides Virginie Viard in the show notes.
The catwalk itself was transformed into the famous seaside town's boardwalk, with models walking as if they were taking a romantic stroll at dusk.
The palette for the AW24 collection took its cue from this: pastel shades of pink, mauve, orange and pale blue mimicking the sky.
Carrying on with the nautical theme, there were sailor jumpers with wide collars, kmitwear featuring flying seagulls, drop-waist dresses adorned with sailor bows and painted the colours of sunset, whimsical silk negligees echoing the waves.
The collection was full of wearable pieces, Virginie's take on what the well-heeled city-dwellers would wear to a seaside escape: think puffer jackets decorated with a camelia flower, shearling coats, relaxed knitted separates and plenty of denim (well plenty of denim for Chanel).
For all the casual pieces, there were plenty of frothy sheer dresses, tweed separates and tailoring, layered jewellery and of course, iconic handbags.
Oh I do like to be by the seaside indeed.
