A Crash Course On The Ateliers That Made Chanel's Recent Metiers d'Art Runway Collection Happen
The show was staged in the sprawling Le19M complex which houses 11 of Chanel's artisanal companies.
Chanel's annual Metier d'Art collections hold personal meaning for artistic director Virginie Viard. For the longest time, she was a liaison between the various ateliers responsible for Chanel's ready-to-wear collections and Karl Lagerfeld when the latter was at the creative mind of the French house.
A quick history lesson: Chanel started purchasing craft companies and suppliers starting in 1985 as a way to protect France's artisanal specialists. Today, there are reportedly 40 companies under Chanel's Metiers d’Art (French for "artistic trades") group.
With Viard at the helm of steering Chanel's artistic vision, the craft-laden Metier d'Art collections have a heavier significance for and a closer connection to the designer.
This year's runway show on December 7 took place in Le19M, a modernist seven-storey building situated in Paris' 19th arrondissement. Designed by French architect Rudy Riicciotti, the name of the building is a symbolic nod to Gabrielle Chanel's birthday which falls on August 19.
The nearly 270,000 square feet Le19M complex houses 11 of Chanel's Metiers d'Art ateliers under one roof.
The sprawling complex houses 11 ateliers – these include shoemaker Massaro, embroidery workshop Lesage and feather specialist Lemarie – under one roof, turning Le19M into the ground zero of savoire-faire in France. It is not surprising then that the show's press notes described Le19M as "the beating heart" of the Metiers d'Art world.
The influence of this new home spilled into the designs of the clothes. Inspired by the "threads of white concrete" that adorn the facade of Le19M, Viard decorated pockets and bags with crisscrossing white lines, while embroidery, such as the silver sequin needlework by Montex, riffed on the building's gleaming glass exteriors.
Gary Schermann
Viriginie Viard described this Metiers d'Art collection as "very metropolitan yet sophisticated".
There is also an urban street quality to this collection which Viard described as "metropolitan yet sophisticated". Tweed jackets received a youthful injection of graffiti-style embroidery in multi-coloured beads by the craftsmen from Lesage. Meanwhile, jackets with sweatshirt sleeves and coats that were worn opened by the models in the show give the collection a louche quality.
Even the quintessential bridal look that normally closes special runway presentations was a breath of fresh air sans any frou-frou. Model Mica Arganaraz sauntered down halls of Le19M in an off-white sequinned pants and jacket co-ord ensemble. As she walked, she started to unbutton her jacket looking oh so debonair.
Ahead, we cast the spotlight on some of the looks from the collection and highlight the artisanal houses that played a major role in their creation.
Desrues was the first atelier to officially join the Metiers d’Art gang in 1985. Prior to that, the 92-year-old company had already been collaborating with Chanel as far back as 1965. Its speciality: moulding, sculpting, chiselling, enamelling and polishing the special jewelled buttons for each of the ready-to-wear collections, as well as the belt buckles and bag clasps.
Not only is this plumassier responsible for the feather embellishments at Chanel, it has also been hand-assembling the maison's camellia ornaments since the '60s. Lemarie, which was founded in 1880 joined the Metiers d’Art in 1996 and is also known for its expertise in couture sewing and creating remarkable inlays, flounces, smocks and pleats.
Milliner Maison Michel has been operating since 1936 and joined Chanel's Metiers d’Art in 1997. At Le19M, Maison Michel's caps and brims are reportedly handcrafted on 3,000 lime wood blocks before being embellished with braids, flowers, feathers and other adornments by its craftsmen.
The tweed maker and embroidery expert has been in existence since the '20s and is responsible for many of the innovative fabrications at Chanel. A partner of Chanel since 1983, Lesage came onboard the Metiers d’Art in 2002 and also runs a school of embroidery at Le19M where artisans pass on the secrets of their savoir-faire to the younger generations.
This shoemaker has been around since 1894 and joined the Metiers d'Art group in 2002. Its greatest contribution to the Chanel style lexicon is probably the emblematic two-tone shoe that was created in 1957.
Gabrielle Chanel's affinity for the intricately crafted bijoux would not be complete without the house of Goossens. Robert Goossens is widely credited for introducing Gabrielle Chanel to Byzantine jewellery in the '50s – which has since become a recurring theme for Chanel's costume jewellery.
A member of the Metiers d'Art since 2011, the 82-year-old atelier is known for its meticulous needlework. Its designs are made using either a Luneville crochet hook or with the Cornely, a century-old embroidery machine guided by the hand.
This specialist pleater – it boasts more than 3,000 kraft cardboard pleat moulds some of which are more than a hundred years old – can be credited for the shape and movement it gives to Chanel's fabrics. It's one of the newest companies to join the Metiers d'Art group – coming on board in 2013.