The chic lady from Deauville, the city on the Normandy coast where it all began for the legendary founder of the French fashion house, shows in Paris for Chanel.
Deauville is the place chosen by Gabrielle Chanel in 1912 to open her hat shop, where, a little later, the first dresses with a visionary style for the time appeared.
The story of Coco began in Deauville.
"This story is very close to my heart" confides Virginie Viard, creative director of the maison, shortly before the presentation in Paris of the new ready-to-wear collection for Autumn/Winter 2024/25.
The teaser directed by Inez & Vinoodh, a tribute to the cinema of Claude Lelouch, is also revealed in the Grand Palais Éphémère.
Here the profile of model Vivienne Rohner overlaps with that of the seafront legend Deauville Planches, immortalized by the French director for the titles of his 1966 film A Man and a Woman.
In short, the collection is an ode to an emblematic city but also to the seventh art loved by Gabrielle Chanel.
"For this collection we recreated the Deauville seafront" explains Viard further, while in front of and around giant screens, where romantic figures stroll in the light from dawn to dusk, models parade wearing outfits from the Twenties and Seventies, intertwined in a perfect mix.
At the racecourse, by the sea, at the gaming tables, in restaurants, on the Planches seafront, the lady from Deauville designed by Viard always dresses in elegant and impeccable looks.
The collection draws its femininity from the style of Gabrielle Chanel and its "masculinity" from the practical wardrobe of winter stays by the sea.
There are broad-shouldered pea coats and long coats with robe-style belts, tweed dresses and pleated skirts, culottes, cropped trousers and drop-front trousers with tabs on the back.
Chunky sailor sweaters and sweaters depicting the landscapes of Deauville alternate with silk blouses, herringbone prints, low-cut tops with flounces, jumpsuits and dressing gowns whose delicacy evokes gentle waves crashing caressed by a gentle wind.
The palette captures vibrant or pastel shades, from angel skin pink to mauve, from orange to light blue, in the ever-changing shades of the Deauville sky, along with brown and golden lamé.
Tickets for films and 35mm cinemas are in the prints that refer to the city's connection with the seventh art, its American Film Festival and Lelouch's cinema.
But the silhouette of David Bowie can also be seen on the platform.
Or the magnetism of movie stars walking on the sand, like Anouk Aimée, a great friend of Gabrielle Chanel, to whom the revisiting of the coat worn by the actress in the film A Man and a Woman makes direct reference.
The collection pays homage to these familiar figures.
Accessories.
Iconic bags are omnipresent, but colorful silk scarves, knee-high boots and leather thigh-high boots are also on show.
But the new accessories are the very wide-brimmed hats in pastel colours, like the ones Coco sold in the boutique in Gontaut-Biron, decorated with feathers or bows.
In their new version the decoration is a shiny brooch, in the shape of a four-leaf clover or a feather.
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