Chanel’s Fall 2017 Haute Couture Collection is a Love Letter to Paris

by Noreen Flanagan December 4, 2017

It would have been inspiring enough just to watch a live broadcast of the Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture show from the Grand Palais in Paris. It was thrilling to actually be there, seated under the 38-metre replica of the Eiffel Tower, but it was off the fashion Richter scale to touch the clothes at the studio on Rue Cambon the following day. The iconic tweeds and bell-shaped silhouettes, which echoed the tower’s contours, held their own on the runway, but the delicate embroidery and plumage required a closer view.

Take, for example, the image above. This tunic and skirt outfit has 140,000 elements, from paillettes to strass beads to stones. It took the embroiderers at the Montex atelier 2,100 hours to create. The spray of rooster, ostrich and goose feathers was created at Maison Lemarié. Years ago, I visited the Lemarié studio, which has been the centre of plumassier arts since it was established in 1880 by André Lemarié’s grandmother Palmyre Coyette. It is the only métier that works with feathers for haute couture clients, including Chanel.

Nadine Dufat, the managing director of the atelier, told me that the 50+ women who work there are driven by passion and tempered by patience. I can’t speak to Karl Lagerfeld’s capacity for patience, but in his 34-year career with Chanel, his passion and prescient take on social moods and mores is unparalleled. Lagerfeld said this collection was inspired by a “revived Parisian woman.” His replica of the Eiffel Tower also reflected the French people’s love of liberty, fraternity and freedom—sentiments that are all the more relevant today as we dare to imagine a better world.

See how we reimagined the Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture collection’s “revived Parisian woman” in our photoshoot below and the Winter 2018 issue.

Photography by Michael Schwartz. Styling by Zeina Esmail. Creative direction by Brittany Eccles. Hair, DJ Quintero for Statement Artists. Makeup, Virginia Young for Statement Artists/Chanel Les Beiges. Manicure, Elle for Chanel Le Vernis.

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Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture

Grey, plum, green and navy tweed and wool hooded jacket and dress. The look is topped off with a Chanel canotier hat.

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Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture

Multicoloured tweed jacket, bustier and skirt. The flowers, which are made of hand-painted goose feathers, took 220 hours to create at Lemarié.

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Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture

Embroidered dress with pleated silk tulle skirt. The look is embellished with flowers made of hand-painted goose feathers from Lemarié. The bodice is also embroidered with 20,000 metallic paillettes, which took 350 hours to complete in the Lesage atelier.

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Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture

Double-breasted coat in black, ecru, green and mustard tweed. The look is topped off with a Chanel canotier hat.

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Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture

Pleated and embroidered tulle dress and flowers made of feathers. The dress has 20,000 paillettes and took the Lesage artisans 450 hours to embroider.

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Chanel Fall 2017 Haute Couture

Navy blue chiffon dress that has 60 jewelled buttons at the waist, on the shirt front and in the back. The belt, shoulder straps and trim, which were created at Lesage, consist of 4,000 elements and took 50 hours to create.

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