Suite Française

The Ritz on Place Vendôme, where Coco Chanel returned to sleep each evening—and where her remarkable life drew to a close—has played a vital role throughout her label’s illustrious history. Following Karl Lagerfeld’s Métiers d’Art show at the hotel, Justine Picardie explores the enduring relationship between these two icons of Parisian style.

- Justine Picardie

When Karl Lagerfeld staged Chanel’s 2017 Métiers d’Art collection at the Ritz in Paris, it was a long-awaited homecoming. For the Ritz is a key component of the Chanel legend: just a few steps from Gabrielle Chanel’s first couture salon on Rue Cambon, and a place where she lived from the 1930s onwards, until her death in 1971.

“It’s good for us to be here, no?” said Lagerfeld, after the show, gesturing to the gilded salons of this supremely glamorous palace hotel. And indeed, it was a welcome reminder that the City of Light could still sparkle, even in the dark days of an uncertain world.Hence the lightheartedness of the presentation, entitled ‘Paris Cosmopolite’, with the smiling models dancing their way around the tables where we, the lucky audience, sipped flutes of champagne. Here was Cara Delevingne, twirling and blowing kisses, in a black dress embroidered with cascading flowers, and red roses in her hair; there was Lily-Rose Depp, the latest face of the brand, in a glimmering gold sequined skirt and matching cropped top; and then came Pharrell Williams, jaunty in a Chanel bouclé tweed jacket and ropes of lustrous pearls. The extraordinary expertise of Chanel’s ateliers was evident in the intricately jewelled embellishments and delicate feathered tulles; though the show avoided any trace of heavy-handedness, as swift and nimble as Lagerfeld’s finest work for Chanel in the 35 years or so that he has been creative director for the brand.