Suzy Menkes Shares How Eighties Nightclubs With Karl Inspired Virginie Viard For Chanel Couture

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“I was thinking about the beginning. When I first knew Karl, we were invited to his place or went together to the [1980s nightclubs] Les Bains Douches and Le Palace,” says Chanel creative director Virginie Viardover Zoom, as she waves a picture of Karl Lagerfeld with Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, a German royal famous for her wild dancing in super-bold jewels. “I liked that era very much, people were more dressed,” adds the designer.

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“I had a feeling for jewellery — something a bit eccentric,” Viard continues, while other accessories, such as shoes with pointed toes and fancy ribbons (along with a scoop of messy hair) added a sense of a big and bold night out. “The collection is about glamour; it’s sophisticated, eccentric — very English — romantic, a fantasy,” Viard says of her haute couture designs for Chanel.

Chanel haute couture autumn/winter 2020.

© Mikael Jansson

But 2020 is a different time. Haute couture has been under lockdown since the coronavirus began, like everything else. Those nightclubs — if they still existed — would have been closed. Yet, the designer gave some form of renovated glamour, with Avedon-trained photographer Mikael Jansson. It is the first time he has collaborated with Chanel.

For the clients, the speedy presentation will have a different pace as the dancing models displaying bare legs and complex tweed jackets race by in a flash. Customers will be sent lookbooks in full colours with up-close details, and those local to Paris can see the offerings first-hand.

The embroideries of Lesage and other details, including hand-stitched lace and the work of Emmanuelle Vernoux, bring the skills of Chanel’s ‘Paraffection’ collection of 35 handwork technicians to life. “I really wanted everyone to participate in the collection,” Viard tells me. “For Chanel, the couture stays the same. I used everybody.”

Chanel haute couture autumn/winter 2020.

© Mikael Jansson

Yet another company — Vimar 1991, a tweed supplier — is now joining the group. “They make fantasy tweed!” Viard enthuses.

But where was the magic in this digital show, the leaping of the heart that builds desire? The answer is that it was impossible to judge the collection through pictures — although there was an energy in full skirts flowing from narrow waists and in tweed dresses cut down to balance on the shoulders.

The frustration was seeing the extraordinary handwork in one dimension. You could tell that a silvered dress was magical in its creation, without understanding how Chanel’s handwork has developed three-dimensional flowers ‘growing’ on the arms and shoulders of an evening dress. Even rings glittering brighter than multi-sparkling fingernails could not be seen — nor a new accompanying line of jewelled buttons.

The verdict? Frustrating. Because you knew that behind the flat pictures and video, there was Chanel’s litany of extraordinary workmanship. Next time, in full view please!

Fortunately, there is a live show planned for October in the Grand Palais before the Paris landmark shuts down for extensive renovation, and an exhibition dedicated to Chanel is due to open at the Palais Galliera in Paris at the end of that same month, Chanel-jewelled fingers crossed…

Chanel haute couture autumn/winter 2020.

© Mikael Jansson