From San Francisco to St Petersburg, Dubai to London, a host of cities were scheduled to play host to luxury labels’ extravagant Cruise show this spring. As Covid-19 caused global travel to cease, so brand’s halted their international fashion show plans. One such label was Chanel, which was scheduled to show its Resort 2021 show for the first time outside Paris since 2016, on the idyllic Italian island of Capri.
As the threat of lockdown pervaded, so creative director Virginie Viard expanded her horizons, nodding not just to Capri’s coastline, but other sparkling shorelines. ‘The collection, more generally, evolved towards a trip around the Mediterranean... The islands, the scent of the eucalyptus, the pink shades of the bougainvillea,’ she explains of an offering which also nods to the holiday wardrobes of Sixties actresses who favoured sunning themselves on the Italian and the French Riviera. Coco Chanel herself loved the Côte d’Azur. She chose to build her famed villa La Pausa in 1928 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Chanel’s 2019 high jewellery offering was also dedicated to its founder’s penchant for seafaring. ‘Flying Cloud’ nodded to the 1930s superyacht bestowed to her by the Duke of Westminster.
Chanel Cruise 2021.
Fashion has the power to transport us to far off destinations, and there’s ample escapism in Viard’s offering. Based on the idea of a wardrobe carried in a ‘little suitcase on wheels’ (perfect for pulling from a ferry from Naples), the collection features trousers cascading with ruffles, bouclé skirts which unbutton to the thigh, dresses in fine transparent lamé and shiny Bermuda shorts. To accompany the collection, Chanel celebrated the Mediterrranean skyline with a series of atmospheric landscape images, capturing Capri’s famed Blue Grotto, a sky illuminated by sunset tones and the verdant tones of bougainvillea. Close your eyes and you might just be able to smell them.
RELATED STORY
INFORMATION
-
Frances Elkins gets her dues at Christie's this JuneYou can soon take home a piece of the legendary American designer’s legacy…including a $3 million Alberto Giacometti sculpture.
-
The new Phone 2 Pro from CMF combines generous scale with true affordabilityWe explore the ins and outs of the CMF Phone 2 Pro, the newest device from the Nothing sub-brand that focuses on bold design and carefully honed value engineering
-
‘I’ve considered every single detail’: how Victoria Beckham designed the perfect make-up brush collectionVictoria Beckham speaks to Wallpaper* about the meticulous design process behind her debut collection of make-up brushes, which perfectly treads a line between form and function
-
The 3D-printed biobased opticals inspired by French cinemaThree new sustainable styles draw on the sultry French Riviera setting of Schneider’s 1969 thriller La Piscine
-
Falke’s high end hosiery balances tradition and modernity -
Architecturally-aligned bag brands for raising up your wardrobeThe Wallpaper* edit of sculpturally sublime emerging bag brands – S. Joon, Osoi, Numen and Yuzefi
-
Wicker bags weaving style magic for summerWe’ll soon be embarking into our sun-drenched summer destinations, so it’s natural we’re craving stylish, beach-ready pieces
-
Hide time: Church’s launches inaugural leather goods collection -
Blue print: Fontana Milano 1915’s ‘A’ bag collaboration with Wallpaper* -
Singapore bling: the handcrafted splendour of Llora's handbag designs -
Pure luck: the hidden charms of Heimat’s handwoven bags
