Chanel

Virginie Viard’s Nostalgia Over Newness

Review of Chanel Fall 2024 Fashion Show

By Mark Wittmer

THE COLLECTION

THE VIBE

THE THEME
Chanel Fall 2024 sees creative director Virginie Viard continue to favor nostalgia over newness, diving ever deeper into the annals of the once-innovative house and the world of its eponymous founder. This season, the designer took as inspiration Claude Lelouch’s 1966 film Une homme et un femme. A man and a woman – an old story of bourgeois heteronormativity that is fittingly toothless and banal, as anything more provocative probably would have made the apparent intended audience of this collection clutch at their pearls.

The show opened with an Inez & Vinoodh-directed short film that functioned as both an homage to Lelouch’s original, an introduction to the collection’s theme, and, presumably, an upcoming campaign. Set in the resort town of Deauville, the boardwalks of which provide much of the setting for the original film – and, in a fun connection, where Coco Chanel first launched her brand – the short starred Penelope Cruz (who arrived at the runway alongside Lelouch himself) and Brad Pitt, two Hollywood titans who are both longstanding Chanel ambassadors.

That thread of cinematic, seaside nostalgia ran quietly throughout the collection. Aside from the distractingly large and floppy hats, it was most present in the color palette, which echoed the pinks, oranges, purples, and golds of sunset over the sea.

But for the most part, the references to bygone eras of Chanel history and French dressing feel far too literal. 1920s blouses existed alongside 1960s skirts; every tweed jacket and cardigan that could be belted at the waist was belted at the waist, perhaps a nod to the more relaxed silhouette that Gabrielle Chanel offered as a progressive alternative to the corset – at the time, liberating and innovative, today, not so much. Most looks had extraneous decorative details like lacy trims or elaborate beading that made them feel overthought and ostentatious. The tall suede boots just felt confusing.

There were a few looks that gave a frustratingly tantalizing look at what an actually modern Chanel could be: the denim puffer jacket worn over a knit midi dress, the simple all-black sets, the two slick leather looks (one a jumpsuit and one a jacket and skirt set) that referenced the motif of motor racing in the original French film, all of which had distinctly Chanel details but felt current and cool and didn’t hit us over the head with frumpy nostalgia. But these were few and far between; at this point with Virginie Viard’s Chanel it seems that freshness will always be the exception, not the rule.

THE BUZZWORDS
Nostalgic. Cinematic. Stuffy. Overwrought.

THE SHOWSTOPPER

THE DIRECTION

THE QUOTE

THE WRAP UP

The collection is thoroughly cohesive, and there is of course some beautiful craftsmanship on display within each look. But that cohesion and craftsmanship comes across as costumey or stuffy; though it’s a richly realized world, it is one that should be left on the silver screens of the last century. As skillfully crafted as a piece may be, it still feels lackluster if it doesn’t put that skill to work in serving a relevant perspective.

The best looks in the collection were those where Viard edited herself the most, distilling things down to a core vision and letting the structure and silhouette of the garment speak for itself, rather than asphyxiating it in overwrought craft details and bygone brand signifiers. Chanel has a rich history to draw on, and these looks prove that it can be done in a way that doesn’t age the wearer. It would be great if we could see more of that moving forward, but the repetitiveness of these collections doesn’t give us that much hope.

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