Sporting GLORY

Patrice Leguéreau, the director of Chanel’ jewellery creation studio, lets Vogue Singapore in on the story behind the house’s athletic Haute Joaillerie Sport collection.

- GORDON NG

In the world of Chanel, feminine liberation is the thread that connects everything. From Gabrielle Chanel’s earliest innovations like the use of jersey in women’s fashion to the invention of the all-occasion bouclé jackets and skirt suits, and the little black dress, Chanel’s designs freed the body and granted its wearer the ease to move and live their lives in. That’s exactly the impetus behind Sport, the house’s latest collection of high jewellery that taps into the allure of the physical.

“I was inspired by Chanel’s sporty style,” explains Patrice Leguéreau, the director of Chanel’s jewellery creation studio. It’s an integral part of the house’s history—though perhaps not as obvious because it is an intangible concept. It’s about the “elegance of the line and the freedom of movement”, adds Leguéreau of the thrust.

For proof of the importance of sportiness, consider that as early as 1921, Chanel had already created a Sport atelier within her haute couture house. The inner, hidden fashion design codes that she instituted served movement: jacket sleeves with high armholes, pleated and unrestrained skirts, dresses worn by slipping over the head instead of having to step into them, and more. In fact, when Chanel opened her first fashion boutique in the seaside resort town of Deauville in 1913, one of her earliest lines was jersey sportswear.

So it is with import that Leguéreau interpreted this core value as an 80-piece collection of high jewellery. The team at Chanel met this creative challenge in three ways. Firstly, by honing in on a sporty aesthetic—tapered lines, chevrons and smooth contours that evoke speed and kinetics, and athletic motifs such as chronometer numbers, coats of arms and stars of victory. There’s also an expressive use of colour, which is achieved through gemstones as well as coloured, anodised aluminium and vivid lacquer details.