Chanel's 19M center to host two-day event showcasing artisanal crafts

Faced with a shortage of qualified apprentices, French top players are launching a charm offensive. Following the 'Les De[ux]mains du Luxe' promoted by the Colbert Committee, the 'Hermès in the Making' event and the 'You & ME' tour organized by LVMH to showcase its skilled professions, it is now Chanel's turn to enter the scene. On March 1 and 2, the luxury group's 19M center on the northern outskirts of Paris, home to Chanel's artisanal houses, will host the 'Mains d'avenir' (hands for the future) event, designed to immerse students and the general public in Chanel's Artisan Excellence, through workshops, round tables and conversations with individual artisans.

Visitors will be able to discover nine artisanal trades related to fashion and luxury accessories: jewelry with Desrues, shoemaking with Massaro, embroidery with Atelier Montex and Lesage, millinery with Maison Michel, sewing with Paloma and Lemarié, lingerie with Eres, goldsmithing with Goossens , feathers and flowers with Lemarié, and fabrics with Lesage. The location is the 19M center on Paris' porte d'Aubervilliers, home to an embroidery school and headquarters and archives of 11 Chanel-owned houses, with 700 artisans and experts in total.

Chanel aims to showcase the richness of these trades, illustrating their creativity and innovation, and “showcasing the wealth of career opportunities” available. The event will raise awareness among young people to help them choose their career and will also target “craft enthusiasts who wish to retrain,” 19M indicates in a press release.

Chanel has devised an extensive and well-structured program aimed at attracting the largest possible number of visitors. The first day, Friday, March 1, is reserved for students, especially those enrolled in the event from secondary schools in Paris and nearby Créteil. The morning will begin with a speech by Chanel's president, Bruno Pavlovsky, and the head of the Human Resources group, Marine Carré-Bonnange. Students will then be able to participate in a series of interviews with artisans and apprentices working in the 19M maisons.

On Saturday, the event will be open to the general public, upon registration, and will mainly feature round tables organized in collaboration with the newspaper Le Monde and its journalists, who will invite artisans and professionals to “talk about the vitality of skilled professions” and outline specific career paths.