CHANEL Métiers d’Art 2021/22 Collection

The luxury French Maison’s Annual Métiers d’art event brings together an array of talented creatives like embroiderers, feather workers, pleaters, shoemakers, and others.

One of the most anticipated annual show was the recent CHANEL 2021/22 Métiers d’Art show, which was held in the futuristic building “le19M” in Paris, designed by renowned architect Rudy Ricciotti. “This building is a tribute to Chanel’s craftsmanship, it is designed for the glory of the people who work for Chanel,” said the architect.

Each year, the French luxury house pays a tribute to the workshops (from Mumbai to Hamburg) that embroider, pleat, beat (gold) and more for the brand. This year, the collection aimed to celebrate and honour the fine craftsmanship that its artisan partners bring to the house’s collections.

The idea was first introduced by Gabrielle Chanel herself. She wanted to honour and recognize the work of artisans. With this collection, the aim was also to celebrate the collaborative nature of fashion and give these art ateliers the encouragement they needed to achieve greater successes ever since the ‘80s. In its current iteration, Métiers d’art brings together some forty Maisons d’art and factories, representing more than six thousand, six hundred employees around the world.

CHANEL’s creative director Virginie Viard said that the the collection is “very metropolitan yet sophisticated, with tweed jackets with sweatshirt sleeves, graffiti-style embroidery in coloured beads by Lesage, voluminous purple or royal blue knit Bermuda short-outfits, and casual coats worn open,”  

The futuristic show began with an ankle-length black button-down dress with two statement pockets adorned in white plaid and beads at the hip. Following the opening look, tweed jackets, matching sets, and a myriad of other clothing styles were featured on the runway in black, white, and various pops of color. The show ended with a white sequined shirt and matching pants, with a black sash tied around the waist and black pant inseams. Accompanying the final look was a black coat with a white interior that the model wore just off the shoulder.