This season, Chanel’s Métier d’Art 2023 fashion show has set its latest pre-fall 2023 collection in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, making Chanel the first European fashion house to organize a show in sub-Saharan Africa.
Chanel made history as the brand became the first European luxury brand to organize a fashion show in sub-Saharan Africa. The latest pre-fall 2023 “Métiers d’Art” collection was part of a three-day program of cultural events in the capital of Senegal, demonstrating the craftsmanship of its art houses and the excellence in the dress they manage to create. “Going beyond the runway show, it’s the event as a whole that I had in mind,” begins creative director Virginie Viard about Chanel’s Métiers d’art 2023 exhibition. “We’ve been thinking about it for three years. I wanted it to happen gently, over several days of deep and respectful dialogue.”
The brand took inspiration from the exhilarating spirit of the 70s. Viard injected a kaleidoscope of colour into Chanel, using the same hues that painted this pop-soul-funk-disco era into the collection. At the same time, the brand managed to reflect the surroundings through a subtle nod to Senegal’s enchanting love of freedom with layers of colour blocks.
Chanel’s new interest in the city was a hub for fashion, art, literature, music, and cinema that went hand in hand with “actions in terms of creative dialogue, the transmission of knowledge and sustainable development,” Chanel said in a press release.
With a soundtrack by DBN Gogo and Obree Daman, guests were welcomed into the show space by dancers from the École des Sables and Dimitri Chamblas, and students from the Montfermeil and Dakar Kourtrajmé film schools documented the entire project.
Presented at the Palais de Justice, Viard’s latest collection featured flared pants, asymmetrical dresses, platforms, and oversized sweaters adorned with vegetal motifs, pearls, and bejewelled buttons. Clothes paid homage to the country. Jewellery and bags were decorated with the Senegalese lion. Tailored silhouettes were inspired by Congo’s Sapeur subculture and materials beaded by local artisans. The brand’s president, Bruno Pavlovsky, announced a host of upcoming creative exchanges between Chanel and the IFAN Museum of African Arts in Dakar.
When it came to the designs themselves, creative director Virginie Viard took all the best-known Chanel house codes and gave them a modern, trend-conscious twist. Of course, there were the iconic square jackets, tweed materials, lace dresses, and collared shirts galore, but she also presented peplum skirts, high-low dresses with side slits, and tunics layered over flared slim pants.
“I put my whole soul into it. Those wonderful encounters from which artistic adventures like this are born, that’s what drives me,” the creative director said of the collection. Everything felt cosier, a bit more bohemian than we expected from Viard’s tenure at the house, which is something she took further by collaborating with the capital’s existing art scene.
In addition to the fashion statements, we could see sandals and classic pointed-toe heels. Most of the footwear stuck to the chunky platform sandal theme that was so iconic of the retro decade.
The Métiers d’art collection paid tribute to the savoir-faire of fashion, shedding light on the skills of the artisans in the small specialized houses under Chanel’s 19M umbrella. Among them Lemarié for feathers and flowers, Goossens for jewelry, Lesage for embroidery, and Maison Michele for millinery.
Take a closer look at Chanel Métiers d’Art Pre-Fall 2022/23 Collection
