Chanel presents its Métiers d'art collection in Dakar
Presented in the heart of the old Palace of Justice in Dakar, Senegal; the Maison unveils its Métiers d'art collection as part of a long-term approach whereby Chanel will contribute to the palace's renovation.
The choice of Dakar to present Chanel's 2023 Métiers d'art collection is the result of meetings three years ago with friends of the House who have lived there, who are carrying out artistic projects there, who are planning to do so, or simply interested in their creative effervescence. For the French firm, Dakar is an influential artistic capital on the international scene , especially in all fields that are of great interest to Chanel , such as fashion , cinema , dance , literature , contemporary art and music . Going to Dakar means engaging in a dialogue with the country that welcomes you.
The collection is the cohesion of plant motifs , lines and geometric shapes , a profusion of warm colors , sequins and sparkling pendants , together with the subtlety of lace : with its delicate charm, the Métiers d'art de CHANEL – Dakar collection takes shape with long , fitted coats, fitted and flared pants, seventies collars, platform shoes, oversized, colorful sweatshirts embroidered with flowers, multicolored tweed and dresses that are shorter in front than in the back. The beating heart of the imagination of Virginie Viard, the firm's creative director, materializes in a seventies spirit that runs through the collection. The pop-soul-funk-disco-punk decade with its fascinating freedom, symbolized by an explosion of energy, is embodied by a jubilant woman. In Virginie Viard's mind, evoking the 70s is like asking everything that generates her pulse to set our current life in rhythm. This is a celebration of the codes by the House , even within the floral motifs. The embroidery work, with its clusters of camellias, entwined pearls, forests of jeweled buttons and dazzling sequins, harmonizes with that of black or white coated and pleated lace.
Designed between Chanel's creation studio in Paris and le19M , between Paris and the porte d'Aubervilliers, where eleven of Chanel's Maisons d'art are located, the Métiers d'art collection pays homage to fashion savoir-faire . Since 2002, it has performed in different venues around the world. “The old Palace of Justice in Dakar, where not only the show takes place but also a large part of the artistic program that accompanies it, is one of the most beautiful places in which we have presented a collection. It was an obvious choice, and it has also been a source of inspiration», comments Virginie Viard in an official statement. The creative director wanted to extend the fleeting moment of beauty and dreams generated by the CHANEL Métiers d'art collection – Dakar 2023 show, to celebrate the art scene of this cutting-edge cultural capital and the disciplines she is so passionate about , beginning for dance with the École des Sables and Dimitri Chamblas , the choreographer of the Slow Show who welcomed guests to the parade. Dance and music were then intertwined. The dancers from the École des Sables , an international center for the training and creation of traditional and contemporary African dances founded by Germaine Acogny , who have been involved in the project since its inception, met the singer Obree Daman and his choir at the former Palais de Dakar justice . DBN Gogo provided the show's musical ending. Cinema is also at the heart of the project through the collaboration with the Montfermeil and Dakar Kourtrajmé schools that documented the genesis of the collection in Paris and the run-up to the event in Dakar.
