Chanel: The Art of the Runway at the Grand Palais

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At every fashion week, we are eager to discover the new collections from designers, but that’s not all… Indeed, each haute couture house showcases its new pieces in enchanting settings, giving them a whole new dimension. Among all the shows, Chanel has positioned itself as one of the most anticipated, thanks to its creations of captivating universes.

The Nef of the Grand Palais: Chanel’s Playground

The shows at the fashion week are a total expression ground for haute couture houses. Each one brings their imagination and ingenuity to create venues that will be talked about, even beyond fashion week. These sets are designed down to the smallest details to highlight the new pieces imagined by the designers. A creation as prestigious as the pieces themselves, sparking new vocations, like Alexandre de Betak, who is behind the enchanting shows of Dior to Yves Saint Laurent, including Jacquemus.

Between its ready-to-wear, haute couture, pre-collection, cruise, and métiers d’art shows, Chanel has numerous occasions during its 8 annual shows to showcase all its creativity. And it is under the Nef of the Grand Palais that the haute couture house has been exploring various universes for the past 16 years. Shows that are among the most important and most anticipated in the world, due to the reputation they have built over the years.

In just 7 days, Stefan Lubrina, the set designer, and his teams transform the blank space of the Grand Palais into an incredible world. A white canvas that, for each show, is adorned with a new set, designed to enhance the collection. A decor that reflects Chanel’s DNA and France, crafted in the smallest details to achieve realism. Perfection is essential, to create an unexpected set, straight out of a dream.

Unprecedented shows with an undisclosed budget, which would hover around 7 to 10 million euros (venue rental, set construction, models and guests, as well as all logistics…). Thus, there is no room for error; every cent and every minute is precious. Once the set is validated in a model, the magic can operate on a grand scale.

Chanel Sets: The Art of Transporting the Spectator to Another Place

Rocket launch, stroll on the rooftops of Paris, sinking iceberg, supermarket shelves… So many extraordinary worlds recreated in 3D, aimed at transporting spectators to another dimension. Chanel shows establish themselves as true shows with each collection, featuring shows of very high caliber.

Each design of the shows is studied so that the podium is forgotten, and that the set itself tells a story. Once crossing the entrance of the Grand Palais, guests are transported as if on a movie set, forgetting the bustling Parisian life around them. Each show is a suspended bubble where for a good ten minutes, the models bring these sets to life. Sets that are immediately shared on social media, both by the V.I.P. guests and by those who cherish the world of fashion, allowing the brand to gain worldwide recognition and reap beautiful economic benefits.

This is how we have seen evolve over the years, and through the shows, models on grandiose sets. Sets that revolve around a central piece. Like the giant jacket in homage to Gabrielle Chanel, a massive copper lion, crystals emerging from the ground, a globe with all the illuminated Chanel boutiques on it, a 265-ton iceberg straight from Sweden, the hull of a giant Chanel cruise ship…

But also sets highlighting an entire universe, like an artificial beach with waves, a snow-covered chalet, a supermarket in Chanel colors, an airport lounge, a Parisian brasserie, a French grove, a stroll on the rooftops of Paris or in a recreated forest, an apocalyptic decor, or an underwater scene with Florence Welsh singing from a seashell…

Each Chanel show is a real event, taking each guest away from their daily life. The recreation of a reality in movie set version, where models walk in a stunning theatricality.

The Chanel Collections, Chameleons of Their Decor

The sets of the Chanel shows always draw inspiration from the pieces of the collections. A material, a pattern, an accessory, a color… The decor, in addition to reflecting the image of Chanel, also reflects that of the collection and the mood it exudes. Thus, for its new Autumn-Winter 2022/2023 collection, Virginie Viard returned to an iconic fabric of the Chanel house, namely Tweed. Used inside out, in total looks or sparingly, this fabric also dressed the walls and floors of the Grand Palais.

With the theme of River Tweed for its show, Chanel adopted the river motif, illustrated in the films of the collection, to make it its runway. In the midst of this Tweed decor, the models appeared one after the other, as if coming from nowhere, through an entrance bearing the letters of the house, in colors of the pieces.

Thus, on a sky-blue carpet, the models followed the flow of the show, presenting the pieces step by step on the representation of a river. All accompanied by music with an atmosphere of strangeness and mystery, with touches of melancholy. A sober decor, less dizzying than some previous shows, but in perfect echo with the films of the collection.

Chanel, Visionary of Filmed Fashion

Since the Covid health crisis, shows have had to challenge their format. Initially deprived of an audience, the digital realm pushed haute couture houses to unleash their creativity in new ways. Fully live shows, with some physical guests or via screens, use of green screens to extend the scope of the sets… Set designers had to rethink the very essence of shows. With the crisis becoming less present, and restrictions easing, shows can regain their original appearance.

However, some have continued to use digital technology to give another dimension to their show. Jacquemus thus enjoyed the sublime decor of Hawaii, with a beach fashion show, for a handful of guests with their feet in the sand. All filmed with a drone in an enchanting way, allowing those who remained in Paris to enjoy local shows during the fashion week.

The Reimagined Show

Chanel thus proposed for its collection a film of the show, but that’s not all. In the lead-up to it, the haute couture house built video after video to capture the atmosphere of its show. A mix of strangeness and mysticism, with a hint of psychedelia. Video clips, created by Inez & Vinoodh, highlighting nature with morning mist by the River Tweed, between Ireland and England. Using a montage with mirror effects, nature takes on an almost unsettling face. Sepia filters highlight the orange tones of autumn.

A global atmosphere that might lead us to think the show would take us to Twin Peaks set to English music…

Additionally, Chanel created a video showcasing the collection in this same environment. In 4/5 black and white format, model Vivienne Rohner dances in slow motion by the river. With a haughty, almost possessed gaze, the looks are presented, with a camera swirling around her in an enchanting manner.

A sequence interspersed with cut montage, featuring colorized shots of the River Tweed, layered on top. The addition of static noise, accompanied by Kinks music, creates a strange atmosphere, reminiscent of Twin Peaks, and bordering on unsettling. Totally out of time.

This video work by Inez & Vinoodh creates an entirely different dimension to the show, extending the runway.

A way to narrate the birth of tweed at Chanel. A flagship fabric of the house, its name is inspired by the famous River Tweed, along which Coco Chanel strolled, on the Scottish border. Initially seen as masculine, the house managed to extract feminine cuts for its collection.

Chanel has shown us here, another way to build the atmosphere of its show, and we are all for it!