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Provence, France: Resort 2022
The location: The Carrières de Lumières (Quarries of Light) in Les Baux
The theme: “In 1960 Jean Cocteau—the sui generis artist, poet, and filmmaker who cast a long shadow across the worlds of culture and style in 20th century France—used these quarries as a setting for his hauntingly beautiful movie The Testament of Orpheus,” wrote Hamish Bowles. “It’s ‘so modern, so fresh, and so strong,’ says Viard, who watched the movie, which features Cocteau himself, with cameos from his lover Jean Marais, Pablo Picasso, and Yul Brynner, among others, as she began working on the season. ‘The movie really inspired the collection,’ Viard added. ‘When I came to see the quarry again—I’d been years ago, before it was used for the son et lumiere—I saw that the clothes had to be strong, and black and white. Otherwise we could be in Petra or Egypt.’ ”
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Touraine, France: Pre-Fall 2021
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
The location: “The 16th-century Chenonceau is known as the Chateau des Femmes (the Women’s Castle) because of its association with some powerful ladies through its storied history, notably Diane de Poitiers, the influential mistress of King Henry II, and her rival, Catherine de Medici, the king’s Italian-born, taste-making wife,” Hamish Bowles reported.
The theme: “Viard was thinking of something ‘a little princess-y!’ with this collection.” These included what the reviewer called “Catherine de Medici–via–Coco Chanel ruffled collars” and other detail inspired by the 16th century as well as the location. “ You can find so many details,’ notes Viard. She was astounded to discover, for instance, that Catherine de Medici’s symbol, repeated throughout the chateau, is a linked double C—very similar to the iconic Chanel logo that is so much a part of the brand’s DNA.”
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Paris: Resort 2021
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
Photo: Courtesy of Chanel
The location: The show would have been shown in Capri if not for the pandemic. To evoke the “Balade en Méditerranée [A Mediterranean Jaunt]” she was after, Viard tapped photographer Karim Sadli and model Mica Argañaraz to “create the illusion of a Caprese sunset in Chanel’s Paris photo studio.”
The theme: Viard, wrote Hamish Bowles, “was thinking and dreaming, as she told me, about ‘summer in Capri—or the South of France,’ and the kind of destination wardrobe of ‘easy clothes’ that ‘a sophisticated but also cool girl would want to travel with.’ ”