The first model on the Chanel catwalk was wearing a sheer mousseline skirt suit and carrying a tiny century-old leatherbound book of fairytales that once belonged to Coco Chanel herself. With the Lord of the Rings soundtrack booming through a stage set of giant parasol-scale poppies and lupins as tall as giraffes, the clothes narrated the stories in the pages. A row of buttons on the spine of a dress began with an ugly duckling, and ended with a swan. A Goldilocks minaudière handbag was fashioned in the shape of a golden sleeping bear. The lining of a jacket was hand-painted with a scene from Puss in Boots.
A sheer skirt suit with embroidery. Photograph: WWD/Getty Images
But Matthieu Blazy, holding the same book in his hands backstage after the show, told reporters that his favourite fairytale was the rags-to-riches story of Coco herself. “She climbed the ladder to find her golden goose, by making clothes for real women. Her clothes were never parodies. They were rooted in life,” Chanel’s creative director said.
An opening look from the show. Photograph: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
A cast of women of all ages included Stephanie, a model who was celebrating her 50th birthday walking the Chanel catwalk in a red sequined dress, surely a fairytale way to mark that occasion. “That was a super-beautiful moment for us backstage,” said Blazy. “ I love the way the older women move in the clothes, and I love the mentorship and conversation they have with the younger kids.” The wedding dress that features in every couture show – bridal gowns making up a hefty chunk of orders – was demoted from finale position, so that the show closed with a sinewy little black dress that Blazy called a “revenge” dress. “It seemed like the right way to end the story, because Gabrielle [Coco] never got married.” The simple black dress channelled her spirit.
Stephanie marks her 50th birthday with a red sequined dress. Photograph: Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis/Getty Images
“We love doing red carpet, dressing Teyana Taylor or Nicole Kidman, but for me fashion is about the adventure of the everyday. Fashion is not about the big ‘wow’ dress, it is clothes that you fold and put in your suitcase,” he said. To celebrate the adventure of the everyday, the lining of a jacket was decorated with to-do reminders and supermarket shopping lists hand-embroidered by the Parisian house of Lesage on to squares of yellow silk, to look like Post-it notes.
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The ‘revenge’ dress. Photograph: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
Beyond the whimsy, there was a clear fashion story here for the world beyond the tiny couture clientele. Sheer layers are an emerging trend, with worn-to-be-glimpsed sturdy knickers and bra tops worn under semi-transparent clothes. The silhouette is emphatically untucked, with the new version of a skirt suit a fluid skirt beneath a billowing blouse. Nostalgic pastel shades of lilac and mint are a breath of fresh air after seasons of minimal neutrals. In many of these directions, Chanel echoed the looks seen on Monday on Dior’s haute couture catwalk.
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion, described it as “the best show ever” in haute couture. “The storytelling behind this collection is stunning,” he said. There is fairy dust around Chanel since Blazy’s appointment, with boutiques packed. The appetite for a new era of Chanel is being seen in strong demand for the new, slouchier “25” bag, which is becoming as desirable to clients as the classic flap-closure shape.
Pavlovsky’s biggest challenge right now is finding and training the growing workforce in the Chanel ateliers. Despite the recent acquisition of the renowned Parisian shirtmakers Charvet, Pavlovsky insists Chanel has no plans to diversify into menswear. “We are not dressing men. We are not in hospitality; we are not opening Chanel restaurants. We are not trying to compete with Vuitton. We are not listed; we don’t have the pressure to do everything. Everything we do is about fashion for women.”
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