Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL
On the heels of Men’s Fashion Week and just before the 2024 Olympic Games, Haute Couture has officially begun in Paris. Starting the glamourous week, the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2024/25 Haute Couture collection, presented by the Fashion Creation Studio, pays an opulent tribute to the historic Palais Garnier in Paris. This iconic venue, a cornerstone of both fashion and CHANEL’s heritage, now sets the stage for a collection that merges the worlds of haute couture and opera. For this grand event, the corridors surrounding the auditorium have been transformed into red velvet opera boxes, creating a sophisticated and luxurious atmosphere. The set, designed by French director Christophe Honoré, modifies usual landmarks and reverses perceptions, offering a renewed experience of the Palais Garnier.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL
The collection is a symphony of feathers, tassels, cabochons, embroidered flowers, precious braids, lacquered jersey, supple tweeds, silky velvet, illusion tulle, taffeta, and duchesse satin. These opulent materials delicately rustle, while diaphanous volumes, puffed sleeves, and pleated flounces add a touch of ethereal beauty. Richly embroidered, the pieces imbue the House codes with a romantic twist. Standout ensembles include a CHANEL suit with box pleats in burgundy tweed trimmed with white satin, a black corduroy tuxedo paired with a white blouse featuring an embroidered plastron, and a black suit with a long culotte and a short, fitted jacket adorned with black feathers.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL
The palette of the collection is both dramatic and refined, with matte, glossy, and lacquered finishes in hues of black, gold, silver, ivory, fuchsia, pale pink, and celadon, evoking the grandeur of splendid soirees. This visual feast is further enriched by CHANEL’s deep involvement with the Opéra National de Paris, where the House has been a Major Patron since 2023 and a Patron of the Ballet de l’Opéra since 2021. The collection nods to CHANEL’s history with ballet, featuring references to Le Train Bleu (1924) and Apollon Musagète (1928), for which Gabrielle Chanel designed revolutionary costumes.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL
Against the vibrant backdrop of the Palais Garnier, the CHANEL Fall-Winter 2024/25 Haute Couture collection showcases the technical expertise, virtuosity, and sensitivity of CHANEL’s Haute Couture ateliers. Located at 31 rue Cambon, next to the CHANEL Fashion Creation Studio and close to the Palais Garnier, these ateliers employ around 150 skilled artisans who bring these exquisite designs to life.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of CHANEL
The collection not only dresses the space but also conquers it, reaffirming CHANEL’s enduring legacy in the world of high fashion and its intimate connection with the art of movement.
