NEW HORIZONS: Luxury brands are casting a wider net when it comes to the location of destination fashion shows — and it’s not only Asia’s fast-growing mega-cities that are on their radar.
Chanel said Wednesday it will show its next Métiers d’Art collection in Manchester, England, on Dec. 7.
The city built its fortune on the textile industry during the 19th century’s Industrial Revolution. Dubbed “Cottonopolis,” Manchester was once the international center of the world’s cotton industry. Chanel, however, is more closely associated with tweed produced in Scotland, a heritage it explored with a high jewelry collection shown in London in June.
The brand has presented the Métiers d’Art line, timed around the pre-fall season, in cities as far-flung as Tokyo, New York, Shanghai, Rome, Edinburgh, Salzburg and Dallas, and last year became the first European luxury brand to stage a fashion show in sub-Saharan Africa by holding the event in Dakar, Senegal.
“Presented in cities and places that inspire the house, from Tokyo to New York, via Dakar last year, this collection bears witness to the historic commitment of Chanel to this exceptional artisanal heritage and its influence around the world,” the French luxury brand said in a brief statement.
Chanel did not elaborate on the exact location of the show, or its reasons for heading to Manchester. The brand has a shop-in-shop at the Manchester branch of department store Selfridges.
Founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel had strong links with Britain, through her relationships with Arthur “Boy” Capel and subsequently Hugh Grosvenor, the second Duke of Westminster. She frequently visited the latter’s properties, including Eaton Hall, his family estate in Cheshire, which is about 50 miles southwest of Manchester.
The Métiers d’Art collections celebrate the capabilities of the specialty ateliers Chanel has acquired through its Paraffection subsidiary. Several of them are now grouped at Le19M, a striking building designed by architect Rudy Ricciotti and located near Porte d’Aubervilliers, a working-class area north of Paris.
Le19M brings together embroiderer and tweed-maker Lesage, its embroidery school and Lesage Intérieurs; embroidery workshop Montex and its decoration department MTX; shoemaker Massaro; feather- and flower-maker Lemarié; milliner Maison Michel; pleater Lognon; grand flou atelier Paloma, and goldsmith Goossens. It also houses swimwear and lingerie brand Eres.
Ahead of the show in England, Chanel plans to stage its first major event in China since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, with a repeat showing of its cruise 2024 collection scheduled to be held in Shenzhen on Nov. 2.