Caroline de Maigret, who had already worked for Chanel in the 1990s, opened the show on the cobblestones in front of the Eiffel Tower, wearing a long navy blue coat.
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Singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, who embodies Parisian charm, according to Chanel, showed off a long organza dress, with black velvet camellias applied.
The Seine fascinated fashion designers more than ever this season. Louis Vuitton, Kenzo and Alaia presented their collections on Parisian bridges, both menswear and haute couture.
“If we are in Paris, this time it is time to be in its heart, on the piers. The streets and colorful cobblestones call for both sophistication and simplicity”, explains Virginie Viard, artistic director of Chanel, in notes about the show.
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The collection plays with contrasts: “Parisian” with traditional tweed sets with skirts below the knee, bohemian coats, fluid blouses and headscarves.
The designer combines tweeds, silk muslin, organzas and lace embroidered with floral and graphic motifs.
Nieves Álvarez to honor Callas
When director Claude Lelouch asked Stéphane Rolland to record his fashion show for his upcoming film, “Finalement,” the designer immediately agreed. “It was a gift from heaven,” he explained to AFP.
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The idea is to reproduce a gala from 1958, when Callas was at the height of his opera stardom.
Stéphane Rolland, lover of bright colors, this time opted for a more sober palette: with the exception of the red dresses, “everything is black and white. It's intimidating, decisive. At Palais Garnier I don’t feel like teasing with pink, yellow or green”, explains the designer.
Rolland himself got his hands dirty sculpting porcelain pieces that were embroidered on the dresses.
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Each costume references a character played by Maria Callas: Violeta de la Traviata, Norma, Medea.
To play Callas, Stéphane Rolland called on his favorite model, the Spanish Nieves Álvarez, who opened the show in a black gauze dress and closed it in a white muslin dress, reminiscent of a bride.
The Brazilian actress Maria Fernanda Cândido, “who has the grace of Callas”, and the Iranian model Farnoush Hamidian, “a woman who fights for her freedom and the freedom of women”.
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“Callas was that,” concluded the designer.
Alexis Mabille reinvents 'tuxedo'
French designer Alexis Mabille chose to reinvent the tuxedo for women, with cuts that were reduced as the show, held at Christie's auction house, progressed.
It started with a black jersey top with a high collar and, at the bottom, a tuxedo that started asymmetrically at the waist, in the form of a skirt.
The costume was reduced to a black crepe bodysuit when the last model entered the catwalk.
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