When Chanel decides to dedicate an entire show to tweed, it means the entire show. The luxury fashion house’s Autumn / Winter 22/23 Ready-To-Wear collection debuted in the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris, which was entirely decked out in tweed, from the walls to the carpet and even the seats. Tweed appeared in every single look, and was itself a love letter to the brand from creative director Virginie Viard.
The collection inspired by Gabrielle Chanel’s walks along the River Tweed in Scotland, where she would collect ferns and flowers to inspire local artisans for the tones she wanted. “We followed the footsteps of Gabrielle Chanel … to imagine the tweeds in the colours of this landscape,” Viard said. “Like that of a long pink coat mottled with blue and purple, or a burgundy suit with a delicate gold shimmer.”
Pop pink tweed twinsets, oversized socks worn under tight mini skirts, and trousers in black velvet dominated the runway, often accompanied by gumboots bearing the Chanel logo—which are going straight to the top of our wish lists.
The collection was a psychedelic take on weekender dressing, with subtly oversized jackets imbuing the collection with the playfulness and eroticism of wearing your lover’s clothes.
“There’s nothing sexier than wearing the clothes of the person you love,” Viard said, referencing Gabrielle Chanel’s love story with the Due of Westminster, with whom she had an affair in the 1920s and whose fishing and hunting attire inspired her designs. “Of course, I’m fascinated by this contemporary gesture.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Chanel show without an iconic Chanel tweed jacket moment, which has transcended fashion history and created a life all of its own, reimagined over the years by both Viard and her predecessor, Karl Largerfeld. Here, in some looks it was lengthened and made masculine, while in others it was nipped in at the waist for a feminine silhouette.
“I love working with tweed so much,” Viard said. “I couldn’t live without it at Chanel.”
You can view the full collection here.
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