After three years abroad, Chanel is finally returning home to Paris for its 2019/20 Métiers d’Art show this week. Beginning more than 15 years ago, Métiers d’Art soon became lauded as one of the last major runway shows to close out the year, showcasing a unique blend of haute-couture and ready-to-wear pieces highlighting the intricate work of Chanel’s various specialty artisans.
Building suspense for the long-awaited show, the Maison exclusively shared with Vogue Arabia a short film clip featuring Chanel fashion creative director Virginie Viard and Hubert Barrère, artistic director of renowned embroidery house Lesage, teasing a behind-the-scenes preview of a few of the embellished designs ahead of the official unveiling. Barrére was recently in Abu Dhabi for the first time in honor of Chanel’s participation in Flânerie Colbert: French Luxury in the 21st Century, an event celebrating the cultural connections between the UAE and France. where he detailed “it definitely takes a minimum of 1,000 hours from start to finish” for just one outfit.
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Viard’s Métiers d’Art debut will be the first collection designed solely by her after the passing of Chanel’s legendary designer of more than six decades, Karl Lagerfeld, in February. Originally scheduled for December 5, the show was moved a day earlier to the evening of the 4th in anticipation of the French capital’s pending transport strikes, according to an official statement. However, this slight change in plans is unlikely to stop A-listers of the Parisian and international sartorial world from gathering for the pre-fall presentation at the Grand Palais, an iconic destination for many of the couturier’s runway shows.
Last year, Chanel headed to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to introduce their ancient Egyptian-inspired creations while previous shows in the worldwide Métiers d’Art tour had stops in Salzburg, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Rome, Shanghai, and Lagerfeld’s hometown of Hamburg. The last time Métiers d’Art made its way to Paris was in 2016 in honor of the Ritz’s grand reopening, but is back once again after the French luxury label announced plans to further support its native city, including sponsoring the Grand Palais’ renovation and building a new base for their 26 Métiers d’Art ateliers in northern Paris.
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