Ugbad Abdi walks for Chanel Cruise 2020. Photo: Alessandro Lucioni/Gorunway.com
Back in May 2000, Karl Lagerfeld changed the course for cruise wear by presenting a runway show specifically for Chanel’s travel-inspired collection. Chanel, therefore, becomes the first luxury fashion house to hold a cruise catwalk, which Lagerfeld eventually took around the world. Today, Chanel’s creative director, Virginie Viard, is set to continue Lagerfeld’s wanderlust and take her debut collection at the helm of the brand to a faraway destination. The next stop for the Chanel Cruise journey: Hong Kong.
Set to take place on November 6, 2019, Chanel’s Cruise 2020 collection will be re-shown at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal. With a backdrop of both skyscrapers and old-town Kowloon, the setting is aptly built atop the site of an old airport runway and is nestled in the heart of Hong Kong’s famed Victoria Harbor. The East-meets-West destination will host the Chanel Cruise collection that was first staged in May 2019 at the Grand Palais in Paris – but, don’t expect a replay – the show will be re-imagined, drawing influence from its new surroundings.
Courtesy of Chanel
In the Grand Palais, the Chanel Cruise 2020 show was set at a train station, the audience was seated on the platform and the models walked alongside the railway tracks. Much-loved European destinations were on Viard’s mind, with signs to Venice, Rome and the Riviera – the theme was a silhouette in motion. The woman on the move needed a wardrobe to match; the collection featured bow-adorned blouses, candy-colored tweed jackets, floral prints, miniskirts worn with ballet slippers and passport-sized belt bags. Viard reshaped Chanel’s staples subtly and added a softer, more feminine tone to the house.
But, what we can we expect to see in Hong Kong? With a timeless travel story to tell, the Chanel Cruise 2020 presentation in November will feature the same feminine notes that Viard is being recognized for. Yet, when under the new light of Hong Kong’s skyline, the collection’s passage is sure to change.
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