Haute Couture is, at its core, fantasy. These garments are confections of beauty come to life. They are the dreams of their designers realized in fabrics and actualized by the incredible work of the craftspeople who so lovingly stitch each hem and seam by hand. Haute Couture also is an incredibly rarified world, in a way a sort of family of interconnected individuals. Only a select few Houses are able to claim the legal designation “Haute Couture”. The client list of people who are able to actually commission and purchase these spectacular creations is limited and is frequently made up of lifelong clients of the Houses they patronize. And the artisans who produce these spectacular creations are few in number. The CHANEL SPRING-SUMMER 2021 HAUTE COUTURE collection is an exquisite representation of the special family that has grown from the world of Haute Couture.
It is that very family that inspired Virginie Viard in her creation of the CHANEL SPRING-SUMMER 2021 HAUTE COUTURE collection. The world of CHANEL is a microcosm of a family unit in itself. Its ambassadrices and clients alike are loyal and devoted. You frequently see many of the same faces on the runway season after season and the artisans in the CHANEL workshops spend decades perfecting and executing their specific crafts and skills.
Viard so clearly keeps her client in mind, thinking of the modern CHANEL woman and celebrating her in her designs. Viard notes, ‘I’m always thinking about what women would like to have in their wardrobe today.” Viard’s creations for CHANEL, this collection included, are a delicate balance of honouring the history of the House and both Gabrielle Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld’s legacies and distinct styles and entwining them with her fresh and decidedly French take on the CHANEL woman. So perfectly woven together are the codes and symbols so intrinsically linked to CHANEL with Viard’s own vision of easy elegance that the collection feels both totally fresh and classic at the same time.
The CHANEL SPRING-SUMMER 2021 HAUTE COUTURE collection sees familiar silhouettes from collections past, but they are reinterpreted and restyled masterfully. There is an air of joyous celebration about the collection. The gowns beg to not only be worn, but danced in. One cannot help but think of their skirts twirling, the layers of silk, tulle, and lace fluttering. Viard is clearly not just inspired by family, but by the most joyous moments a family can share. “I love big family reunions, when the generations all come together. It’s so warm. There’s this spirit at CHANEL today. Because CHANEL is also like a family.”
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