CODE of HONOUR

At Chanel’s latest Métiers d’art showing, house alums Vanessa Paradis and daughter Lily-Rose Depp reflect on the red-carpet alchemy of Coco’s beloved bow, chain, camellia and ear of wheat.

- Eugenie Kelly

It’s a chilly December evening inside Paris’s Grand Palais (1 degree Celcius, to be precise), and despite the historic Beaux-Arts venue being transformed into a series of salons fitted out to replicate Gabrielle Chanel’s apartment, its immense scale and soaring conservatory-style glass ceiling causes French actor/singer Vanessa Paradis to shiver and pull her shawl tighter over her short-sleeved dress and bare arms.

“Everyone is so much more ecologically conscious today and intent on reducing waste,” Paradis muses, leaning back on a sumptuous gold-beige suede couch that’s a carbon copy of the original from the second-floor rue Cambon digs. “Isn’t a collection like this the definition of true sustainability? Chanel’s Métiers d’art collections showcase the work of the ateliers and their artisanship — this isn’t mass production. You should feel lucky to wear a piece like this. They’re works of art and take endless hours to create.”