With the fashion world still bowled over by Virginie Viard’s departure from Chanel just a few weeks ago, all eyes were on the house’s Fall/Winter 2024/2025 Haute Couture show, which marks the first pulled together by the studio team in her wake. Still, Viard’s creative inclinations echoed throughout this show, particularly given the former artistic director’s pull to the arts. Presented at the Palais Garnier, the Neo-Baroque opera house erected in 1875, the setting of last night’s show cemented a commitment to this enduring connection. French director Christophe Honoré designed the set, transforming the landmark’s corridors into red velvet opera boxes—and as supermodel Vittoria Ceretti opened the runway in a sweeping black cape, it was clear that the opera’s influence was to take both literal and figurative forms.
After all, the worlds of Haute Couture and opera are not so disparate, using performance and outward displays to tell stories and evoke emotion. Even without a singular conductor, the studio team crafted a collection steeped in quintessential Chanel-isms and did not shy away from the grandeur its theatrical setting called for.
Feathers, tassels, eye-catching cabochons, floral embroidery, lacquered jersey, supple tweeds, silky velvet, ethereal tulle, and taffeta—the runway was soused in opulent materials and a hedonic display of textures. The typically romantic colour palette of black, ivory, pale pink, and celadon was emboldened by splashes of gold, silver, and fuschia. Even diaphanous sheer components were richly layered with a slew of jewelled embellishments and contrasting finishes for a louder effect. And speaking of noise, this is the opera, so volume was turned up all the way with puffed sleeves, drop waists, pleats and tiered layers, all evoking the retro pageantry of an 80s redux.
As all the Maison’s Haute Couture collections do, the show ended with the Chanel bride—Australia’s Angelina Kendall—dressed in a meringue-like off-white gown with long, puffed sleeves, a camellia embroidered bodice and a ballooning taffeta skirt with a tulle train. Think Princess Diana’s wedding dress with an elevated 2024 sensibility.
Against a vibrant, historic backdrop, the Chanel Fall-Winter 2024/25 Haute Couture collection showcased a notable step away from Viard’s propensity to refine the every day, and instead leaned into a grand display of opulence, technical expertise and the kind of design flair that will always be instantly connected to the house, whoever may sit at its helm. Consisting of 150 people across six ateliers at 31 rue Cambon, the studio team proved to be deftly attuned to the appetites of Chanel’s fans, serving up glamour and ingenuity in spades.
As the world waits with bated breath to see which phantom will be unmasked as Viard’s successor, this collection reminds us that Chanel may be in between chapters, but its vision and effect are never lost.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.