Chanel returns to its roots with Brad and Penelope

Back to Chanel's roots, with a sumptuous runway show and hyper-wearable collection presented in a giant film version of Deauville, the resort where founder Coco sold her first fashion collections.

Brad Pitt and Penélope Cruz open the action in a vignette film on the screen, a black-and-white scene of them ordering dinner at a grand Deauville hotel.

“Would you have rooms available?” Penelope asks with a lascivious smile from the waitress, played by Rianne van Rompaey, the Dutch star model who opened the show on a dark catwalk.

The cast revolved around a truly giant cylinder, 80 meters in diameter, on which scenes of the dawn in Deauville were projected.

Rianne stepped out in a four-pocket coat with open lapels that one could imagine Coco wearing. Paired with thigh-high, black-toed platform suede boots, and a wonderful straw hat, the first of about twenty large straw bells flipped back in the show. And a nice reference to the fact that Mademoiselle Chanel started her fashion career as a milliner.

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Indeed, Chanel really began her fashion career during World War I, when the approach of German forces to Paris sparked a giant exodus to Deauville, where she already had a hat store. And to dress the newcomers, she began creating new-style knit dresses and tops, freeing women in style and freedom of movement.

Her latest successor, Chanel creative director Virginie Viard, echoed that revolution with some impeccable knit dresses, particularly an excellent black version that Gigi Hadid gleefully wore. A series of elegant cardigans with sailor collars also recalled those first Chanel looks and the fashion sense that became a historical chapter when Coco introduced a much simpler and chic style.

Viard also offered new versions of Chanel's classic wool bouclé suit, topping the jackets with Nehru collars or pairing them with culottes. Before the look broke out with several cool outfits that looked almost made of gold leaf.

For winter walks, a great quartet in brown shearling, including a donkey jacket, a long coat and several logo leather totes. And Viard played with lots of cool new leathers, from leather-cuffed pants in denim tones and gardener jackets; to A-line leather coats finished with bouclé and worn with flat caps.

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Virtually all models have platforms and most carry smaller bags, with a less obvious CC logo buckle.

Before images on the screen that mixed seagulls flying over the beach of Deauville, Brad and Penelope on romantic walks and hats enlarged to 20 meters, the cast paraded towards the classic Air runway Sexy boy.

“Chanel started with hats in Deauville, and with big hats. And they created a great silhouette. And that gave the show a certain air that I liked,” Viard smiled backstage, before being hugged by Charlotte Casiraghi, Inès de la Fressange and Cruz.

“I loved the collection, you are very intelligent and creative,” enthused the actor, dressed in a classic black Chanel suit and a white lace blouse. Standing amidst a crowd of supporters after the show celebrating a powerful collection and spectacle presented with consummate professionalism by the house of Chanel inside the Grand Palais Ephemere.

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A cinematic spectacle beautifully shot by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Maturin and featuring a selection of Viard's favorite new models: Vivienne Rohner, LuluTenney, Amelia Gray, Mahany Pery and Angelina Kendall. While Viard gently introduces a subtle youth earthquake at Chanel, shaving a year or two each season off the average age of the clientele.

And one couldn't help but notice how the models kept admiring each other's appearance, as if they didn't want to take off their clothes. A litmus test for a highly successful collection.