Chanel Fall/Winter 2024 Haute Couture Presents A Fantastical Opera
Sophisticated and theatrical, the Chanel Fall/Winter 2024 Haute Couture collection combines the worlds of opera and high fashion.
Although each and every Chanel show is a special event, the Chanel Fall/Winter 2024 Haute Couture collection marks a historical occasion, as it is officially the first collection presented by the Maison since the sudden departure announcement of former creative director, Virginie Viard, earlier in June 2024. The Chanel Fall/Winter 2024 Haute Couture fashion show took place at the sublime Palais Garnier, and was overseen by the Maison and its fashion design team, given the label has not yet announced a successive artistic director.
The show was realized on a grand, luxurious scale with spectacular staging in the opulence of the 19th century Parisian theater, creating an impression reminiscent of Mary Cassatt's famous 1974, painting In the Loge. This famous impressionist piece depicts a bourgeois woman at the opera looking through her opera glasses, while a man, in the background, observes her—a scene that the Maison recreated with ease. In this case, all of the guests were spectators of the fabulous procession, while viewers on upper levels of the balustrades were able to see both groups.
While the Chanel Fall/Winter 2024 Haute Couture was undeniably a fashion show, the creative team at the Maison reimagined the traditional catwalk presentation and transformed the procession into a rhythmic, seemingly choreographed ballet number that celebrities, editors, models, and more flocked to witness.
Within the collection, audience members were shocked to discover dramatic, avant-garde designs including a blazer with massive puffed sleeves, a jet black feather cape dotted with glittering pieces of gold, oversized black bows attached to the backs of models' heads, and of course, the piece that emerged as the highlight of the show—the bridal inspired look, which featured a model dressed in an oversized, flowing white dress with puffy sleeves, a floral bodice adorned with miniature sparkling jewels, and a voluminous trail of tulle around the waist, all created as an ethereal, drama-laden homage to ballerinas and the art of dance.