Chanel Praises the Camellia in 66 Figures of Style

Virginie Viard offers Paris a bouquet of camellias, revisiting the emblem of the house of Chanel in all its forms for the fall-winter 2023-2024 fashion show.

The emblematic flower of Chanel, the camellia, native to Asia, is not afraid of the cold weather and blooms during the winter, almost three months of the year. It is timeless, just like the creations of the house, which goes through fashion while remaining faithful to its DNA and its symbols, such as this flower that appeared in the 1920s on the belt of Gabrielle Chanel's sailor suit on a beach in Normandy. In 1923, she pricked it on a muslin dress to sublimate it. A signature was born.

Softness and strength

"The camellia is more than a theme, it is an eternal code of the house. It's reassuring and familiar to me, I love its softness and strength," confides Virginie Viard. This season, the artistic director of the label gives it a multiple face, and declines it in 66 silhouettes. Offering a thousand and one varieties, she affixes it as a bush on the collar of a black leather coat, sprinkles it on a jacket, a sweater, reworks it into a quilted 2.55 bag clasp, a sculpted button or a barrette. He also signs the top of a flannel salome as well as a shoe with a Louis XVI buckle.

Declinations

Under the immense petals of a giant camellia in the center of the catwalk, the Chanel floral icon appears from the smallest to the most spectacular, from the most obvious to the most elaborate, very couture, sculpted or embroidered. Bringing a perfume of softness to next winter's fashion, the collection exudes supreme elegance, a mix and match of black and white punctuated with pink and touches of red.

Metamorphosed into a three-dimensional minaudiere, hidden in the lace of white tights or on the powder pink lining of a tweed coat, the camellia is everywhere. A Chanel must-have, masterfully styled under the eyes of Penélope Cruz, Jennie from Black Pink, Rebecca Marder and Charlotte Casiraghi or the iconic Patti Smith.