Chanel steps out of her comfort zone with a rooftop show in Marseille

“I like the mistral,” said Virginie Viard during a test the day before the Chanel cruise show in Marseille.

The designer was referring to the powerful wind that blows from her hometown, Lyon, to the Mediterranean coast, and which is reputed to drive people crazy.

Viard was probably a little more infuriated than he expected by the mini-storm that hit the city on Thursday. The models were whipped with icy gusts of air across the damp roof of the Cité Radieuse, one of architect Le Corbusier's signature mid-century housing projects.

Guests including Charlotte Casiraghi, Phoebe Tonkin, Anamaria Vartolomei and Lily-Rose Depp, dressed in a flower-embroidered miniskirt and black crop top, sheltered under clear plastic umbrellas until just before the show began.

“I don't know if I expected so much wind and frost, but, you know, I'm committed to appearance,” Depp said with a smile.

The “Idol” star went viral with the “no pants” outfit she wore on a recent trip to Tokyo and said this show was rife with out-of-order choices.

“I really like the idea of ​​wearing a one-piece swimsuit, if you're vacationing somewhere warm enough,” she said. “There was real life in each piece and also a very cinematic element that I loved.”

Viard was clearly targeting a younger demographic with the lineup, which combined urban influences with tongue-in-cheek references to Provençal tropes, like the bar-of-soap bag promoted by Amelia Gray Hamlin.

The model wore her black tweed skirt suit with a diamond medallion necklace that spelled out the number 13, corresponding to the postal code of Marseille. At the test, she removed her sleeve to show the number tattooed on her wrist, in honor of her June 13 birth date.

The white cotton and lace dresses seemed like upscale versions of the vintage nightgowns that can still be found at local flea markets, but other styles had a more androgynous bent, with items like tweed shorts, black surf shoes, and terrycloth tunics with kangaroo pockets.

Viard said he was attracted to the idea of ​​a coastal city with a dose of grit. Marseille, famous for its mixed-race population, football club and shootouts between rival drug gangs, delivers in spades.

“I love her beauty and her energy,” he said. “I wouldn't have done the show on a beach or in the nearby rocky coves. The Cité Radieuse seemed perfect to me.”

Built between 1947 and 1952, the vast building is not just a tourist attraction but a functioning residential building with 337 apartments, a school and a contemporary art center founded by designer Ora-Ïto, as well as a microhotel, a restaurant and boutiques . .

Its grid facade splashed with primary colors inspired plaid tweed suits that fell well above the knee, while a grass-green mandarin collar jacket came with large patch pockets that reflected the turquoise tiles of the rooftop pool.

The brutalist architecture proved to be a perfect complement to monochromatic looks of tweed and crochet jackets, neoprene swimsuits and sheer dresses with dense nautical prints, in a palette that ranges from cement to anthracite and jet black.

But alternative bridal looks (think eyelet lace slips, an ivory jacket with shorts, or a wide honeycomb skirt with a matching mini cape) were simply crying out for a fresh sky blue.

Viard worked with local dance collective (La)Horde and director Ladj Ly on the show's preview.

Chanel organized several exhibitions for the occasion, including one by British photographer Jamie Hawkesworth, who took a portfolio of images of the city and its residents bathed in golden light.

While it lacks the glamor of French Riviera resorts like Saint-Tropez or Antibes, on a clear day, Marseille, with its fish market and outdoor pétanque games, has all the southern charm.

“It's a city where everything revolves around the clash of cultures,” enthuses Casiraghi, who spent part of his childhood in nearby Provence.

“It is a very rich center for all forms of artistic activity, and then there is its relationship with football, which is really key to the identity of Marseille. That is what makes the charm of this city absolutely unique in the world,” said the Monaco royal, who has been a Chanel brand ambassador since 2021.

“I have been to the Vélodrome [stadium] several times to see OM play,” he added, referring to the Olympique de Marseille soccer club, which was scheduled to face the Italian club Atalanta that same day in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals.

Bruno Pavlovsky, fashion president and chairman of Chanel SAS, said the football match, which will take place less than a mile from the show venue, added an extra effort to what was already a complex event, but it also ensured that the city's energy levels were high. . “It's the real Marseille,” he said.

With its recent choices of show destinations including Dakar, Manchester and now Marseille, the luxury brand is targeting a new generation of luxury customers.

“There will always be destinations that have a link to the heritage of the house, but Chanel has entered a phase of development where it is about more than that. The world today is broader,” Pavlovsky said.

“What we are doing today is understanding the energy of the world, and that energy also comes from urban environments, from perhaps less bucolic or less spectacular environments, but just as full of meaning, energy and values,” he added.

“The result is an equal Chanel, but different. “It is the same because the codes of the house do not change, and it is different because it takes a certain audacity, a certain courage to go to places that are a little unexpected,” she said.

While Chanel is a long-time partner of Maison Mode Méditerranée, a donation fund that supports local fashion designers, Marseille has so far hosted shows by less established brands such as Jacquemus and Koché, both guests of its OpenMyMed festival.

To reach young people, Chanel has organized a free exhibition from Friday to May 26 at the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (Mucem) that presents the work of 16 artists in collaboration with several of the specialized workshops of Le19M. , her craft center in Paris.

Luxury brands are looking to expand their customer base amid a global slowdown in spending among aspirational consumers, who are hardest hit by inflation. Chanel, which will release its annual results later this month, expects a normalization of growth rates after three years of post-pandemic euphoria, Pavlovsky said.

“We are entering a weaker and less favorable cycle, but brands that have good fundamentals should emerge unscathed,” he said. “I am confident that we will continue to record growth this year. “I’m still super optimistic.”

The executive acknowledged that domestic spending in China had decreased, but noted that this was due to Chinese citizens traveling again and spending more abroad. He said Chanel's overall business with Chinese consumers continues to increase.

It declined to comment on the impact of successive price increases on sales of its handbags and said it was too early to gauge the effect of a splashy new advertising campaign starring Brad Pitt and Penelope Cruz.

Pavlovsky also deflected a question about renewed speculation that Hedi Slimane would replace Viard as creative director of Chanel, amid his rumored departure from Celine. “Virginie seems to be in good shape, doesn't she?” he answered.