Chanel’s annual Metiers d’Art (French for “artistic trades”) collection is always a lovely treat for not just Chanel fans but anyone who loves and appreciates craft. Typically showcased in a new location every year-end and outside of the fashion industry’s traditional show schedule, it is the Chanel collection designed to spotlight the considerable prowess of the various speciality ateliers owned by the French maison, of which there are at least 12 at last count.
As for the latest Metiers d’Art collection, which has just hit the brand’s stores globally, Chanel first staged the show last December in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, in a bid to celebrate the city’s thriving and internationally influential cultural scene, with the country’s various musicians, artists and models involved throughout the show. It was a historic move; Chanel became the first European luxury house to hold a runway show in sub-Saharan Africa.
The collection was inspired by the “pop-soul-funk-disco-punk” energy that distinguished the 1970s as a decade.
Rich with colours and motifs inspired by the bohemian energy of the ‘70s, the collection notably favoured an elegant, elongated silhouette (clock the groovy platform sandals) and a colour palette saturated with soothing, nature-invoking hues such as ochre, moss green and raspberry pink.
Now, Chanel is continuing that important cross-cultural approach it started in Dhaka, with a second showing of the Metiers d’Art 2023 collection in Tokyo. Unveiled on June 1 at the Tokyo Big Sight convention centre, the collection itself remained true to its original showing, but to re-contexutalise it, Chanel added new elements that paid homage to Japanese culture. We take you through the details of what went down at Chanel’s Tokyo show below.