CHANEL debuts the 2024/5 Métiers d’arts collection and it’s nothing short of an assured yet whimsical foray into the allure of the night and the heritage of Chinese craft.
The China night played host to the French brand’s latest collection; as the dusk descended across Hangzhou’s West Lake, Chanel’s Métiers d’art designs paraded across its silvery waters, while wooden planks of lagoon pontoon creek underfoot, journeying the brand from Paris to Hangzhou within the space of minutes.
A testament to the standard-setting calibre of the Maison, Chanel’s Métiers d’art collections are a conversation between craftsmanship and culture, where the talent of the artisans behind the brand shines through each piece.
The 2025 show opened with black ensembles as deep as the surrounding night, where the house’s signature tweed suiting took on the form of long, shouldered coats, adorned with frogging crafted by Atelier Paloma Paris, and silver floral motifs traipsing up the centre seam and around sleeve cuffs.
A fusion between the trench and a raincoat fashioned from fine silk also flitted across the lakeside runway while pagoda sleeves and mandarin collars embroidered by Atelier Montex subtly glistened under the waning light. The minute attention to detail is acute across every garment, from medallions and cuffs made by Goossens to pleats and flounces by Lemarié and Lognon, and Robin Hood and suede hats by milliner Maison Michel.
Classic tweed suiting contrasted with flashy gold two-pieces helped the collection flirt between the historic city of Paris and China’s tech capital Hangzhou, enhanced by the travel-themed accessories of the vanity case-style handbags and suitcase-style bags. Oversized clutches resembling silk pillows also envelop the evening tone, for the collection’s overall trance-like impact.
Cloaked in darkness, the night helped introduce the key inspiration for the collection: Coromandel screens. Characteristic of the intimate boudoir as well as staging lacquer commemorations of important works of Chinese art, the influence of the Coromandel at the French label extends back to Gabrielle Chanel, who herself hung a hand-painted Coromandel against the walls of her 31 rue Cambon, Paris apartment.
For Métiers d’arts 2025, many coloured and textured panellings of appliqué add depth to jackets, while also nodding to the multi-screen and in-depth composition of lacquer Coromandel art, also heightened in the metallic sheen of silver and gold materials as well as plumage that gently floats across quilted silk evening jackets.
Painting the ornate intricacy of traditional Coromandel art with Chanel house codes, the Camelia (a long-time symbol of the maison) symbolising faithfulness, purity, and longevity, blossoms in pinks and silvers and blacks and whites across the collection, while the resilience and strength of the lotus also made subtle appearances.
A short film by director Wim Wenders featuring house ambassadors Tilda Swinton, Leah Dou and Xin Zhilei teased the collection, who each interact with the elaborate craft of Coromandel art. The film concludes poignantly with the words ‘Gabrielle Chanel never travelled to Hangzhou. In the coming days, the house of Chanel finally will.’
This visual poetry across the whole collection is an ode to the incredible artisans working under Chanel’s wing, expressing the savoir-faire of a self-assured heritage Maison. The result is an oeuvre that sleep-walks purposefully between the romance and refinement of both the night and the Coromandel screens in a classically-Chanel elegance.
by Ella Mansell