Guess who’s coming to Dakar? The House of Chanel!
The fashion house will be holding its annual Métiers d’Art fashion show in the capital of Senegal on December 6, 2022. According to Chanel, Métiers d’Art is ‘an ode to craftsmanship and a tribute to the specialist ateliers with which the house works.’ It is the first time the Maison will be holding the show in an African country.
It is also the first time since the pandemic that Métiers d’Art will be held outside of France. Following the last show designed by Karl Lagerfeld in 2018, Virginie Viard, Chanel’s creative director, had chosen Paris and the Grand Palais the following year as the show’s location. COVID hit, and the Maison presented its subsequent collection by means of a film shot at Chenonceau Castle in Touraine. In December 2021 the show was held at 19M, the group’s new centre of excellence.
“By choosing Dakar, the company intends to make the savoir-faire of its artisans resonate with the artistic and cultural energy of the city,” says the official press release. It describes Dakar as a city that never ceases to invent and innovate, boasting a status that is still unequalled in Africa. It is the meeting point for fashionable designers, a jewel box of art and culture that has reinvented itself while preserving its institutions.
The choice of Senegal also allows the label to gain a foothold in Africa, which is considered an exciting emerging market for luxury goods.
As usual, this year’s Métiers d’Art by Chanel in Dakar will continue with the decades-old tradition of paying tribute to its feather specialists, glove makers, embroiderers, boot makers, pleaters and hat makers – artisans whose skills the luxury house has made its mission to preserve since 1985 due to their undeniable importance to haute couture.
Source: Fashion Network