Chanel’s Manchester show: Kristen Stewart, Tilda Swinton and Lucy Boynton previewed the 2023-24 Métiers d’Art collection, inspired by Britpop’s birthplace and bands like Oasis and New Order

Dec 8 , 2023

A model walks the runway at the Chanel Métiers d’Art 2023-24 fashion show in Manchester. Photo: AFP

The French brand took over an entire street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter to showcase the collection, designed by creative director Virginie Viard

The best looks had a rock 'n' roll vibe that will appeal to Chanel’s younger, millennial customer base: cool girls like actress and show guest Lucy Boynton

When French luxury brand Chanel announced that its 2023-24 Métiers d’Art show would take place in Manchester, England, it came as a bit of a surprise. Past destinations for the unveiling of the range have included Dallas, Edinburgh, Rome and Dakar, but Manchester – a gritty city known for its industrial heritage, gloomy weather and hardcore nightlife – is as far away as one can be from the rarefied world of Parisian couture.

A pink and black tweed look at the Chanel Metiers d’Art runway show in Manchester. Photo: Reuters

The Métiers d’Art collection, which is unique to Chanel, is meant to display the savoir faire of the French label’s ateliers – workshops like embroiderer Lesage, shoemaker Massaro and feather-maker Lemarié – that Chanel has acquired to preserve crafts that may be seen as niche by those outside fashion, but play a vital role in the making of the creations at the heart of a haute couture maison.

While craftsmanship is a key element of all Métiers d’Art collections, they’re also a way for the Chanel design studio, helmed by creative director Virginie Viard, to indulge in flights of fancy. These collections incorporate elements of the show location, whether it’s stars and stripes and cowboy boots for the Dallas range or beaded jackets and Chanel double Cs blown up into animal prints for the more recent Dakar outing.

For the Manchester range, which was unveiled in the Northern Quarter, a neighbourhood filled with cool shops, hip restaurants and art galleries, Viard chose the city’s music scene as her main source of inspiration. Manchester is the birthplace of Britpop and home to Hacienda, a legendary club where bands such as Primal Scream, New Order, Oasis and The Stone Roses performed back in the 1980s and 1990s, when the city was the epicentre of rock and pop music.

Black leather separates paired with pretty pink at the Chanel Metiers d’Art 2023-24 fashion show in Manchester. Photo: AFP

In a statement released before the show, Chanel said that it had chosen Manchester because it is “one of the most effervescent cities of pop culture and an avant-garde one, whose bands, spanning all genres, have changed the history of music”.

Translating that rebellious attitude into refined luxury garments is not easy, but when looking at Viard’s personal style – she’s often clad in beat-up Converse shoes and distressed jeans, paired with a band T-shirt and a Chanel jacket – you can see why the free spirit and underground culture of Manchester would appeal to her. “For me, Manchester is the city of music,” Viard said. “It incites creation.”