In preparation for the creation of the new collection, the creative director of the cult brand Virginie Viard turned to archival portraits of the great Coco Chanel.

Chanel's new couture collection was shown as part of Paris Haute Couture Week autumn-winter 2021/2022... After a long quarantine, during which all fashion shows were held online, the preparation for the return of real demonstrations was especially thrilling and exciting, both for the designers themselves and for the public.

The Chanel fashion house has long been a living legend with a loyal audience. But at the same time, from brands of this size, accordingly, the demand is great. Therefore, critics, literally, with bated breath, expected what this time the representatives of the brand would be surprised. The show was held at the Palais Galliera (Paris Fashion Museum). It seems that it would be impossible to find a place more successful for the fashion show than this. In addition, there is now also an exhibition dedicated to Madame Coco Chanel herself.



As the creative director of the brand, Virginie Viard, said, during the preparation of the couture collection, her main source of inspiration was painting, namely the works of famous artists - Berthe Morisot, Marie Lorensen and Edouard Manet. The designer decided to transfer the images from the paintings to the catwalk, and we must admit that she succeeded.

Models paraded in fancy outfits in which she was every detail is thought out to the smallest detail - you can't do without it in couture. Exquisite buttons imitating the artist's palette, a mosaic of tiny colored rhinestones and feathers added a special charm to the things.



In the new collection, Virginie Viard masterfully combines different textures, materials and silhouettes, while making the images very light and airy.

Multi-tiered "complex" skirts are often presented in a duet with a "heavy" jacket, but due to the decor in the form of delicate feathers, the ensemble does not seem overloaded, rather weightless.



Not without, of course, the tweed suit, which has long become the hallmark of Chanel. From year to year, the Fashion House presents its vision of an ingenious invention. This time, the tweed was woven from strands of multicolored tulle, the decor was sequins and lace, and the “company” of the costume in the image was made up of romantic soft pink bustiers.

It is worth noting that even if Virginie Viard had not shared where she got the ideas for the new collection, one could easily guess that the archives were the source of her inspiration. The new collection clearly reads the brand's DNA and even the messages of Coco Chanel herself. Couture, despite all its forced sophistication, turned out to be lively and light, which is quite in the spirit of Chanel.



Elegant straight-cut two-piece suits, decorated with laconic pockets, buttons and cufflinks, were also demonstrated on the catwalk. Particular attention of the public was attracted by a fashionable duet in a rich fuchsia color - trousers, a cropped jacket with voluminous sleeves and a collar imitating a knotted black bow tie.

Lingerie-style clothes (which, by the way, are now in trend again) also appeared in the fashion show. Virginie Viard did not “follow the crowd” creating slip dresses, but surprised everyone with her original vision of this trend. The new collection includes couture lace sets reminiscent of nightgowns with matching trousers.



The show was closed by Margaret Qualley (daughter of the famous American actress Andie MacDowell) in a wedding dress. She walked the catwalk in an elegant laconic ivory dress. They did not overload the image with an abundance of accent accessories, adding only a hat with a miniature pink bow and a veil embroidered with flower buds to the dress.

Although the new Chanel couture collection turned out to be quite in the spirit of the legendary brand, it should be noted that it cannot be called boring or primitive.With the naked eye, you can see that Virginie Viard is extremely respectful of the DNA and archives of the fashion house, at the same time she does not copy what has already been done, but always provides her personal vision and reading of certain attributes of the brand.