PARIS/DUBAI: Chanel took guests, including tennis star Venus Williams, on a journey of discovery inside the Grand Palais Ephemere to the landscapes and colors of the Scottish countryside on the final day of Paris Fashion Week: The runway saw an ode to tweed — an exploration of the history and allure of the fabric now synonymous with the Parisian stalwart.
Models, which included British-Moroccan Nora Attal and French-Algerian Loli Bahia, stormed the runway wearing styles that evoked the colors of the actual River Tweed that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England, a river that gave the storied fabric its name and that inspired house founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.
Nora Attal at the Chanel Fall 2022 ready-to-wear show. Getty Images
For her turn down the runway, London-based Attal stomped down the catwalk wearing a striped, multi-colored knit cardigan paired with a matching knit scarf and worn over a red, tweed slip dress, thick wool tights and shiny black kitten heels. She carried a pink flap bag over her shoulder and wore a micro version of the iconic French house’s signature bag around her neck.
When it came to Bahia, the 19-year-old looked glamorous in a sleeveless, sequin minidress, red thick-ribbed tights, and black heels.
“We followed the footsteps of Gabrielle Chanel along the River Tweed, to imagine tweeds in the colors of this landscape,” said Virginie Viard of the collection. Thus the designer, who replaced Karl Lagerfeld following his death in 2019, continued her creative journey through the life and inspirations of the house founder. In previous seasons, that has included a collection dedicated to the orphanage at which Chanel grew up.
Loli Bahia wore a sequin mini-dress and thick tights at the Chanel Fall 2022 show. Getty Images
On Tuesday, it was a chapter tracing the later years of the fashion icon, when she lived and stayed in Scotland, and where she “would gather ferns and bouquets of flowers to inspire the local artisans for the tones she wanted.”
Signature house skirt suits and wrapped-up woolen styles came in muted tones of pinks, burgundies, blues and purples. They were dappled, like the hues in nature, thanks to the unique weave of the textured and irregular fabric weft. Guests sat on tweed-upholstered seats, clutching invites made of matching pink material.
The show was also a history lesson: Chanel lived in Scotland when she was the mistress of the Duke of Westminster in the 1920s, and she would wear his jackets. The collection’s menswear elements included flat boxy jackets with loose proportions and large retro pockets.