Chanel Pre-Fall 2025 Hangzhou

[vogue28]

VOGUE.COM

 

[Lola701]

Come on now, let's not pretend Karl's 2010s collections didn’t look almost identical to this. I could show you both Virginie Viard's Métiers d'Art 2019 collection and Karl's Fall 2018 Couture collection, and you’d have a hard time telling which one belongs to him.

Karl had a very specific way of cutting his clothes, a very specific way of embellishing his clothes and a very specific of making dresses and doing volumes…So much so that in his last RTW collection for Chanel, it’s almost obvious to see the few looks designed by Virginie compared to the rest.

I can be wrong and be totally oblivious of many things but for me there’s a difference between a Karl’s designed collection (with it good and bad) and the collections by Virginie or the studio.
Yes, it’s obvious that they went to the archives and did something that they have been familiar with but for me there’s still a difference.

The same way that Chanel in the 2010´s looked very different to me to Chanel in 2000’s, the late 90’s or early 90’s.


This collection here is what it is. Some good some bad but the first thing I notice is the shoulders, the proportions. Something is not working but the silhouette is very close to the body so…

The styling is terrible but I like the Ancora twin-sets.

 

[blueorchid]

I still see Virginie's touch here: "clothes that look like they weigh 10lbs)"

 

[IsabelMarantBoy]

Finally a collection with some beautiful fabrics! I've had enough of flat cottons and wools, give me all the brocades and satins

Gotta agree with the post above though, how did you manage to make these garments look so heavy?? Even the mini skirts look dowdy.

 

[GivenchyAddict]

Ok you don’t have a CD yet but hire a da*n stylist!

 

[Alquimista]

a total mess. but I find interesting to see how different it is from karl's work.

there are several looks here that karl would never do. i don't like it but it shows that chanel can be so many things other than what karl made of it. 🤔

 

[JohannesL]

This collection has little to do with chinoiserie in terms of silhouettes and inspirations except for some embroideries and silks. To make it worse, half of the looks have the code of boxy shapes of Viard written on them making the models look wide. If the team just don't know how to do a cultural collection, they should have at least looked at Karl's metiers d'art Bombay or even YSL's Les Chinoises or Tom Ford's take on that theme.

 

[jeanclaude]

Are they sure Virginie left the ateliers? Because this feels as if she was hiding inside a closet, sketching this mess in revenge. Atrocious and cheap looking collection! No sense of refinement at all! Looks like a chinese brand, like Shein, making a "Chanel inspired" collection.

If you are going to be inspired by the Coromandel panels from Mademoiselle apartment, this is how you do it:

drouot.com

 

[Caffeine]

Seems like Chanel needed to put on an decent show to retain one of their largest markets, if not the largest market that is turning away from luxury.

They are swimming against the tide.
I'm assuming they look at data on demographic changes (age brackets, etc.) and economic trends.
instead of swimming against the tide, perhaps they should make things luxurious, elegant, and maybe innovative again. In that way, at least people in other markets can buy more.

 

[Phuel]

I still see Virginie's touch here: "clothes that look like they weigh 10lbs)"

…And the cuts adds another 20lbs to the wearer.

There’s such an unintentional frumpiness; a Vogue-pattern sewing club homeliness; a moldy, midwestern Hillary Clinton-esque aura sloppiness, to every look that, in the departure of Virginie’s physical presence, her mildewy, discount fabric spirit and DIY-sewing still has a stranglehold firmly in place at Chanel. An improvement would be the Rodarte sisters and their intentionally heaviness reinstated: If anyone can turn Brandy Quinones T&A effortless sashaying in Karl’s Chanel light-as-a-feather cropped, midriff-baring tweed twinset into a sad, heavy, boxy, cumbersome, matronly look with all the feminine allure of SpongeBob, it’s the Rodarte duo at their zenith.

 

[Caffeine]

So much so that in his last RTW collection for Chanel, it’s almost obvious to see the few looks designed by Virginie compared to the rest.

Would it be possible for you to post one example dear Lola? This is fascinating.

 

[Caffeine]

a Vogue-pattern sewing club homeliness; a moldy, midwestern Hillary Clinton-esque aura sloppiness, to every look that,

OMG....Hillary is a very smart woman but this is so spot on. Why and how does it happen?
Your post is my first bookmarked post ever!

 

[Lola701]

What I regret the most is that the spirit of Metiers d’Arts is slightly lost in terms of allure.
Metiers d’Arts was supposed to be an in-between of Couture and RTW even more considering that the collection was then diluted in less embellished versions in some of the commercial versions.
Now it just feels very common…

Would it be possible for you to post one example dear Lola? This is fascinating.

I must say that the FW2019 is an interesting case because the base is Karl, in terms of direction, the cut of the pants and the whole allure but some details are so Virginie! And some looks are styled with the twos.



Those looks among others are so Virginie. Karl liked a structured cut, even with round volumes. You see the capes on the show hold themselves, you see the structure on Adesuwa’s coat.
And the very bright colors are very Virginie. Those weren’t Karl’s colors in the 2010’s.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

This collection has little to do with chinoiserie in terms of silhouettes and inspirations except for some embroideries and silks. To make it worse, half of the looks have the code of boxy shapes of Viard written on them making the models look wide. If the team just don't know how to do a cultural collection, they should have at least looked at Karl's metiers d'art Bombay or even YSL's Les Chinoises or Tom Ford's take on that theme.

You left me thinking with the "boxiness" of the shapes, Johannes...

If I have a look to the jackets, I find the variety of styles really interesting. Strong shoulders, soft shoulders, boleros, straight cuts, marking the waist, below the waist, below the hips...
The diversity that we want in the cast finds its translation in the clothes themselves.
You can see they have very present in mind their customers, from the 20 y.o who wants to feel sexy to the mature woman who is a candidate for the presidence of a country and has her children studying at the university.
It is very commercial, in a positive way.

About the heaviness of certain looks, I think still pictures always do a disservice to fashion shows in the sense that you only see frontal shots (a shame) and cannot truly appreciate the movement.
For instance, the third to last look (full in ivory) has a gorgeous jacket that looks like a thick quilting; but the model was talking to Caroline de Maigret before the show and it was a very flowy piece.

 

[Darko]

Is cloning possible ???
Because let's be honest after Karl Chanel is one BIG joke
And everything just simply everything looks CHEAP and uninteresting

 

[Caffeine]

What I regret the most is that the spirit of Metiers d’Arts is slightly lost in terms of allure.
Metiers d’Arts was supposed to be an in-between of Couture and RTW even more considering that the collection was then diluted in less embellished versions in some of the commercial versions.
Now it just feels very common…


I must say that the FW2019 is an interesting case because the base is Karl, in terms of direction, the cut of the pants and the whole allure but some details are so Virginie! And some looks are styled with the twos.

View attachment 1331419View attachment 1331420View attachment 1331421

Those looks among others are so Virginie. Karl liked a structured cut, even with round volumes. You see the capes on the show hold themselves, you see the structure on Adesuwa’s coat.
And the very bright colors are very Virginie. Those weren’t Karl’s colors in the 2010’s.

Thank you.
I also agree on the use of embroidery. Karl's use is very strategic and sporadic for Métiers. VV's is quite Shein like, for a lack of a better word...

 

[90sfan]

It is what it is…. Pretty dull. But at least they didnt invest a million dollars into ghastly Inez and Vinood Chanel production. That alone killed the brand. The design team are even doing their best, better than Virginie.
But yeah, lets wait for the announcement any day now. You guys know who it is, right?

 

[FashionPower]

What I regret the most is that the spirit of Metiers d’Arts is slightly lost in terms of allure.
Metiers d’Arts was supposed to be an in-between of Couture and RTW even more considering that the collection was then diluted in less embellished versions in some of the commercial versions.
Now it just feels very common…


I must say that the FW2019 is an interesting case because the base is Karl, in terms of direction, the cut of the pants and the whole allure but some details are so Virginie! And some looks are styled with the twos.



Those looks among others are so Virginie. Karl liked a structured cut, even with round volumes. You see the capes on the show hold themselves, you see the structure on Adesuwa’s coat.
And the very bright colors are very Virginie. Those weren’t Karl’s colors in the 2010’s.

I think the last collection in which Karl was completely (or mostly) involved was Couture Spring 2019 and I assume Karl approached that particular collection as his swan song and farewell message. Spring 2019 and Fall 2019 were super commercial, full of merchandise and the silhouettes were very bland and simple, there is no way Karl would have designed or conceived some of the looks shown on the runway. Also the stark contrast between Spring / Fall 2018 collections (waterfall / forest) with the 2019 ones is so noticeable and remarkable.
I think Karl's only contributions for the Fall 2019 collection were the cape looks and the luxurious coats...

 

[Lola701]

I think the last collection in which Karl was completely (or mostly) involved was Couture Spring 2019 and I assume Karl approached that particular collection as his swan song and farewell message. Spring 2019 and Fall 2019 were super commercial, full of merchandise and the silhouettes were very bland and simple, there is no way Karl would have designed or conceived some of the looks shown on the runway. Also the stark contrast between Spring / Fall 2018 collections (waterfall / forest) with the 2019 ones is so noticeable and remarkable.
I think Karl's only contributions for the Fall 2019 collection were the cape looks and the luxurious coats...

I think the Fendi FW collection had a lot of him too. It’s the only collection he had « the time to finish » but then again, the Fendi team is much more elevated.

Karl’s SS and Resort collections were always super commercial anyway. There was a kind of formula at some point. For example he did t-shirts in the resort collections. The SS collections always had those stunts (hoola hoop bags, monitor ankle bag, gimmicks, gadgets). His FW were a little bit more directional even if it didn’t loose it fun.

In that FW 2019, the opening looks are very chic, dramatic, then it’s very structured and layered, a very simple color palette and then, 80’s colors and then a lot of looks that were fillers actually (even if well executed).


When I look at this Metiers d’Arts, the job could have been done by an editor by pulling archival pieces and building a collection around it. This collection is even more meaningless than the Marseille or Manchester ones.