Chanel revealed its 2024/25 Métiers d'art collection in Hangzhou

Chanel displays a collection adorned with Chinese elements in iconic Hangzhou setting.

In an apartment at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris, Gabrielle Chanel decorated her walls with coromandel, Chinese lacquered screens made of ebony wood. One screen on the wall of the study depicts the beautiful scenery of West Lake, Hangzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province.

Though Chanel herself did not have the opportunity to visit Hangzhou, more than 100 years later, her models strolled upon the resplendent and shimmering West Lake.

In the evening of Dec 3, the French fashion house presented its 2024/25 Metiers d’art collection featuring Chanel dresses with subtle Chinese elements, such as floral and bird patterns, and lotus flowers of West Lake. The fluidity of water is reflected in velvet reworked with Chanel’s signature camellias; delicate pleats evoke the folds of traditional Chinese fans. Materials like silk and lacquer-inspired textures are a nod to the city’s role as a crossroads of tradition and innovation.

Over 1,000 guests attended the show, with about 600 from China — including 100 from Hangzhou — and 400 from other parts of the world. The event commenced with a Chinese drum performance. Notable personalities such as German director Wim Wenders, British actress Tilda Swinton, and Chinese actresses Zhou Xun and Xin Zhilei, among others, arrived at the runway set on the lake by traditional boats crossing the West Lake.

Chanel enlisted Wenders in May to direct a film featuring the actresses.

“Traveling to Hangzhou revealed that one of Chanel’s Chinese lacquer screens was a huge map, an amazingly exact description of the city itself, especially of its most famous attraction. It’s the West Lake area, with hundreds of little bridges and paths zigzagging a big body of water and a vast nature reserve full of wildlife and the richest variety of plants and trees,” says the director.

“It was a real maze, and you could easily lose yourself in it and on it. I love maps and discovering landscapes, so I wrote a story for this enigmatic place and the secret link it had with an early representation of it which is in Paris. I love treating cities and landscapes as active participants of a story. You might have realized how many of my films even carry their places in the titles. Places have a great storytelling power, and I also tried to listen to Hangzhou and the West Lake for their input.”

Swinton says the Chinese lacquer screens serve as an ancient cinema screen of awe-inspiring detail and atmosphere.

“I think the way in which the citizens of the city take such active pride in their environment struck me particularly. When we went out to shoot on the lake at 8 on Sunday morning, there were already many boats out on the water, people looking not unlike their ancestors depicted in Chanel’s Chinese lacquer screens, steering their craft in and out of the water lilies, underneath the willow trees.”

Embracing heritage

Since 2002, the annual Chanel Metiers d’art collection celebrates the virtuoso hands of fashion and the craft heritage and its influence around world. Presented in cities that inspire the house, from New York to Dakar, from Manchester in 2023 to Hangzhou this year, the collections are a dialogue between the Chanel Creation Studio, the ready-to-wear ateliers and the Maisons d’art at le19M. This is where the brand brings together more than 700 artisans specializing in embroidery, goldsmith, jewelry, feather-work, hats and shoe making.

This summer, artisans from several le19M workshops visited Hangzhou for inspiration and worked with local artisans. One of them was Christelle Kocher, artistic director of Lemarie, the workshop founded in 1880 which has hand-assembled Chanel’s emblematic camellia petal by petal since the 1960s.

“From Paris to Hangzhou, it’s about merging Chanel’s heritage with the essence of the host city. For this collection, we started with the coromandel screens. Its artistry with intricate depictions of birds, flowers and nature immediately captivated me. We explored motifs, materials, and techniques that reflect both Chanel’s codes and the rich cultural identity of the region. It’s a blend of research, collaboration with artisans, and a modern reinterpretation of tradition,” says Kocher.

“I once spent two months with artisans from the Dong and Miao ethnic groups in Southwest China’s Yunnan province in 2002, immersing myself in their unique craftsmanship and traditions. Hangzhou feels like a continuation of that journey, but with its own distinct blend of history and modernity.

“Seeing how Hangzhou embraces its heritage while remaining innovative reminded me of the importance of preserving artisan techniques. It’s not just about looking back but about re-imagining these crafts for contemporary clients. The city’s harmony between nature and urban life also inspired me to think more holistically about design — how clothing, like art, can transport and transform us.”

Kocher’s Chinese colleague Max Luo Zijun demonstrated the craftsmanship and showed his work in a jumpsuit in the showroom. The 31-year-old Chengdu-born designer joined Lemarie in 2016 after he graduated from Central Saint Martins in London. He had engaged in Chanel Metiers d’art collections.

“It’s happy to join this collection for Hangzhou. It’s relatively easier when the inspiration is from the home culture, blending with Chinese aesthetic,” says Luo.

Choosing Hangzhou is not only because of the coromandel with West Lake, but also because the city is well-known for its silk. Chanel regarded this precious fabric as a treasure. Over the past 80 years, the raw materials used by the brand to make silk fabrics have almost all come from China.

Challenges ahead

As for Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel Fashion and president of Chanel SAS, the brand not only chooses Hangzhou, but chooses China.

The last major show in China dates back to 2009 with Karl Lagerfeld, Pavlovsky says, adding that they had planned something special for China before COVID-19.

“We want to find a specific way to come back, a way different from what we have done before, opening boutiques,” says Pavlovsky who has visited the city four times since the first time the brand opened a boutique in Hangzhou in 2009.

“Hangzhou is a city mixing tradition and modernity with Alibaba and Tmall here. Combined with the local traditions of silk and lacquer, it’s a place where craftsmanship meets storytelling.”

The preservation of these age-old techniques, handed down through generations, contrasts with the seamless experience one encounters during meetings at the hotel, much like in any other Western city, he adds.

He says the collection inspired by Hangzhou would be a shining collection for everywhere, every customer, and bring a part of China to the rest of the world.

As for who are the Chinese clients, Pavlovsky describes “entrepreneurs, not housewives”, who spend money in boutiques, wear designed and well-crafted dress, like models, making choices for themselves.

He says Chinese clients are no different from anywhere else. “That’s a kind of evolution that women are more independent, from housewife to modern woman working by themselves and spending money for themselves.”

As for the slowing down economic, he says: “It’s not only Chanel that is affected. We have to be realistic and deal with it.”

But he is still positive with Chanel’s performance, saying the brand has double digit growth worldwide in the past three years, which means new customers.

While referencing Alibaba and Tmall, Pavlovsky says Chanel connects people on social media, but does not sell online, “because we believe that Chanel expense is more than just a click”.

“We don’t do e-commerce, except for fragrance and beauty. We could, but we don’t want to. We believe that we are not trying to sell more. We are trying to sell better, which means that we want to have this strong relationship with our clients, and that means the boutique. And it’s by choice. It’s not about by (online platform) challenge.

“In Hangzhou, I see people coming to our boutique, which gives us more energy to offer the best experience to our existing customers. It is quite important to be always focused on how to offer the best experience for our clients, giving advice while they are in boutiques.”

He says that in the showroom, clients are invited to see the collection closely, to touch them and feel them and to experience the craftsmanship.

“We continue to offer the best experience of our clients. We probably continue to develop our business step by step, not in hurry, not trying to go fast, but be sure that we’ll feel the best to our clients, best, engagement, best and timing of the brand.”

Yang Xiaoyu contributed to this story.

China Daily