Few executives have had a busier week than Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel Fashion and Accessories, who hosted two cruise shows on the rooftops of Marseille on Thursday.
Two nights earlier, Pavlovsky and Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan jointly inaugurated La Galerie du 19M, an exhibition of fine artists meeting Chanel's special group of artisans.
The show marked the second consecutive Chanel collection by the house's creative director, Virginie Viard, presented in a city that does not have a Chanel boutique. Continuation of Chanel's New Wave Regina Métiers d'Art collection in Manchester in December.
This latest collection of cruisers was in part an homage to its location, architectural legend Le Corbusier's legendary Cité Radieuse apartment building. A spectacle shaken by a day of wild storms and heavy rain, a bit like the house. It comes after a flurry of media reports, initially by the Miss Tweed website, that Hedi Slimane is at odds with LVMH executives at Celine. And that her next stop is to take over artistic control of Chanel. Something Pavlovsky is willing to deny.
“Maybe she knows more than me!” she snorts as she drinks coffee before the show.
“Virginia is doing very well. She is in top form and inspired by Marseille in this collection. You know, since she succeeded Karl Lagerfeld, some people have talked about other Chanel designers. But I want to be clear. Chanel is not looking for a new artistic director. And you can print that! he emphasizes.
Pavlovsky sees the choice of Marseille as “a matter of exchange and dialogue. Marseille is not the easiest city. But it is a city with a lot of energy, culture, the joy of living and a unique position in the Mediterranean.”
“There is no historical link between Marseille and Chanel, nor between this city and Mademoiselle Coco Chanel. But connecting with the city has been very inspiring for Virginie Viard and our brand,” she insists.
“Virginie fell in love with the Cité Radieuse. While its rooftop offers a 360-degree view of Marseille and the Mediterranean. The only weak point is that the rooftop is not that big, so we had to put on two shows,” says Pavlovsky. Finally, due to rain, Chanel held the second show in a large interior hallway.
Cruises remain a vital business for premium brands like Chanel for several reasons. First, because of its temporality, since it remains in stores longer than any collection. Arriving in boutiques in November and lasting until June.
“Also, when the cruise ship hits stores in November, it is a gloomy month of the year with shorter dark days and the collection transforms the boutique. “It has a great impact,” says the executive.
It's clear that Chanel went to great lengths to link up with local artists, many of them from Paris or further afield, who have made Marseille their home in this second Galerie 19M. The first Galerie 19M was held last year in Dakar, and several of the artists in the inaugural exhibition are included in Marseille, such as Senegalese artist Cécile Ndiaye.
Pavlovsky has been the key driver behind Paraffection and 19M. The first is the unique collection of workshops and suppliers such as embroiderers Lesage and Montex; button specialist Desrues; Massaro shoemaker or jeweler. Goossens. All of which creates unique finishes and flourishes in haute couture and luxury ready-to-wear for Chanel and dozens of Parisian houses. While the 19M is a giant center in Aubervilliers, just north of Paris's 19th arrondissement, built to house many of these rare skills.
This Galerie du 19M was made within Fort Saint-Jean, a medieval village at the mouth of the port of Marseille, and Mucem, the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations.
“This latest 19M Gallery from Dakar helps us connect with Marseille. While these artists help release the spirit of Marseille with their ideas. When we invited artists from Dakar to come to 19M, some ended up working with five workshops: fiber, metal, pearls, whatever. While some simply created on their own, like Simone Pheulpin. A remarkable woman of the 80s who mixes fabrics to create phenomenal structures,” Pavlovsky enthuses.
Both Mucem and the 19M headquarters in Aubervilliers were designed by Marseille architects Rudy Ricciotti. Chanel carefully convened an advisory board made up of leading creative figures from Marseille and experts from its creative scene: Olivier Amsellem, Emmanuelle Luciani, Charlotte Pelouse, Karine Terlizzi, Caroline Perdrix and Mossi Traoré. All the way to the after party, where local Franco-German rapper Julien Schwarzer, aka SCH, gave a short but brilliant performance cheered from the rafters by local Marseille fans.
“The Galerie du 19M Marseille is already full for the entire month! This shows that these trades have real appeal,” she says proudly.
Chanel traditionally publishes its annual results at the end of May, which it says will show that the house has enjoyed “a third consecutive exceptional year since the pandemic lifted.”
In 2022, Chanel recorded a 17% increase in annual sales to €17.2 billion and an increase in operating profit of 6% to €5.8 billion. In a word, when it comes to luxury fashion, Chanel is the most successful brand in the world. Period.
That said, Pavlovsky is cautious about the near future, arguing that the luxury industry has just “completed a cycle and is about to enter a new period in which there will be growth but in a much more complicated market.”
“We see that the economy is more complicated. Since 2023 other brands have had problems. Luxury is losing a certain clientele – the wealthy middle class – who occasionally visit boutiques to buy a bag. Now, they are more careful and maybe instead of a bag they will take a vacation. Inflation doesn't help either. The purchasing power is still not very great. Yes, Chanel today is very strong. So it is normal for things to slow down,” she reasons.
When asked about the social commentary on Chanel's price hike, Pavlovsky is diplomatic. The house increased the price of its largest classic bag with matelassé flap by approximately 6%, to almost 10,000 euros. The latest of multiple price increases in the last half decade.
“It is normal for people to react. But the important thing is that when people talk about raising prices, it's our stock market. The price increase in Chanel fashion and accessories (and we create eight collections a year) is not that strong. And you have to realize that our bags are some of the most complicated to produce in the world. That requires time and investment and highly skilled craftsmen to manufacture. So that justifies the price increases,” she concludes.
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