Explore The Allure Of Chanel With Vogue Hong Kong

How would you define “allure”? Chanel unveils its latest installation CHANEL — A Journey Into The Allure, in Hong Kong for the first time, bringing together designs by Gabrielle Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard for a creative dialogue that transcends time. In light of this momentous occasion, Chanel muses Vivienne Rohner and Amanda Sanchez, fashion writer Loïc Prigent and President of Fashion Bruno Pavlovsky make a special trip to Hong Kong and share what the allure of Chanel – ineffable yet impactful – truly means to them.

From the selection of designs to the final presentation, the installation has been carefully curated.

Chanel And Cinema 

Before stepping into CHANEL — A Journey Into The Allure, we discussed the most fitting Chinese translation of the French word “allure”. But this word remains just as vague in Chinese: what is allure? It is not bound by physical constraints, yet it is somewhat tangible, like a piercing gaze. To reach the installation, we walked through a tunnel that provided important clues as to allure truly means. On the wall, a horizontal line of small screens showed the same close-up video of Kristen Stewart, capturing the most minuscule of changes in her facial expression. Her voice echoed through the tunnel: “Choosing to define self, it’s so fluid, it’s so liquid”, a narration that was repeated over and over, setting the tone for CHANEL — A Journey Into The Allure. 

The New Wave, also known as La Nouvelle Vague in French, is a film movement that rose to popularity in the 50s and 60s and has profoundly impacted the development of cinema. The movement was characterised by fragmented editing, experimental long takes and scattered dialogue — elements that come together to create an ambiguous narrative that intrigues. So when Virginie Viard took inspiration from the 1961 French Wave masterpiece Last Year at Marienbad for her latest Spring/Summer collection and extended that to this installation, it resulted in perfection. As we listen to Kristen Stewart’s monologue, we are transported to a time and place that defies logic yet brims with allure. 

Screens playing a close-up video of Kristen Stewart

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Timeless Allure 

Imagine stepping into a four-dimensional space like the one created by Christopher Nolan in Interstellar, where three eras of Chanel co-exist: Gabrielle Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard. Around 40 contemporary and archival designs are showcased side by side, categorised according to different facets that make up Chanel’s design language: black chiffon, lace, ruffles, bows, black velvet, feathers, fringing and more. At a glance, you can see how two legendary Creative Directors have reinterpreted and transformed these elements since Chanel’s founding days.

The masculine silhouettes often seen at Chanel are layered with accessories under Virginie’s touch (left)

Gabrielle Chanel’s 1959 Haute Couture dress (right) has been reimagined with bow details under the helm of Virginie Viard (left), mixed with jersey fabric and playfully magnified in a refreshing interpretation

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“Movie is the perfect starting point for this 45 minute journey. We want to show (the audience) what is Chanel today, in a poetic, also in a very real way,” Bruno Pavlovsky shares. “The installation shows in great detail the continuity, the creativity and the style, from Gabrielle Chanel, Karl, to Virginie. Also their vision and all the details that make Chanel special today. I can say this, the reason why Chanel is so different from other competitors, a very important reason behind, is that we are very focused. We don’t pay much attention to others, but focus on our very best. We respect the past, but also (focus) a lot on the future, with each designer’s vision. When you own a jacket from Chanel, you also became a part of the history, the story. That is what makes us special from the start.”

Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Fashion at Chanel

On display at the installation was Seyrig’s black chiffon dress from Last Year at Marienbad, an iconic look showcasing how Chanel’s DNA has evolved with the vision of different designers throughout the years. Gabrielle Chanel draped a black chiffon shawl of the same length over the little black dress — the epitome of ethereal. Karl Lagerfeld, however, lent a masculine edge to the soft chiffon with sharp lines in his 2005/06 Métiers d’Art collection (a powerful interpretation of femininity is also key to Chanel’s DNA). Now, Virginie Viard is focused on the present: she opened her Spring/Summer 2023 show with a long black chiffon cape styled over a cotton graphic print top, a look embellished with a black camellia pin with a feather.

Black chiffon designs by Gabrielle Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld and Virginie Viard, each with a different yet equally appealing aesthetic.