Allure. The word - the feeling - at the heart of the House of Chanel. Gabrielle Chanel invented an enduring allure through timeless creations that were a result of unwavering codes and an understanding of women. The notion of allure was and remains so integral to the Maison that it staged a travelling exhibition exploring the topic titled Chanel — A Journey into the Allure, which made its way to Dubai last year to showcase how Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard had well and truly followed the sartorial stepping stones laid by Coco herself.
The inspiration of allure struck Gabrielle Chanel when visiting Deauville, a romantic French escape and playground for the influential during the roaring twenties and now, over a century later, Virginie Viard captures the essence of Deauville for the Chanel autumn/winter 2024 collection.
The collection, though nostalgic in some respects with prim-and-proper tweed suiting, sharp-shouldered outerwear, flat caps and co-ords that evoke the elegance of a bygone era, is balanced with a new-age nonchalance that would no doubt attract a younger generation of shoppers. Just-thrown-on knitwear and reimagined denim (spoiler alert: the pieces are leather lookalikes) jostle side-by-side with biker-chic trenches that are very much in line with fashion month's decidedly dark season and puffer jackets that teeter dangerously on the boundary of streetwear - thankfully, a camellia brooch reigns it back to refined.
Seaside escapades inform a wardrobe of holiday-like staples including wide-brimmed hats and billowing silhouettes that would not be out of place in a cruise collection, though, somehow, Viard makes the airy pieces seem a no-brainer; more on-the-nose references to the collection's inspiration come by way of picturesque coastal landscapes and birds embroidered on separates, prints of the Planches of Deauville and a palette of sunset hues and sky blues. Worn-in thigh-high boots add a figurative and literal warmth to the collection and are mirrored in gloves adorning the models' limbs; other accessories adopt an introverted approach with belts of brown, black and burgundy, though they are offset with candy-coloured quilting across the Chanel's iconic bags.
Though simultaneously delivering messages of strength, reminiscence, romance and versatility, the autumn/winter 2024 collection is ultimately a tribute to the vision Gabrielle Chanel dreamt up in Deauville over a century ago - one of creating fashion history. Rewatch the show here
