Virgine Viard was free associating for her Spring 2022 Chanel couture collection. She invited French artist Xavier Veilhan to create an installation piece for the Grand Palais because “his references to constructivism remind me of those of Karl Lagerfeld” and the “avant-gardes of the 1920s and 1930s,” Coco Chanel’s contemporaries. Veilhan, for his part, suggested working with Charlotte Casiraghi because horses are a part of his artistic practice and the longtime Chanel muse is a noted equestrian, so there she was opening the show on horseback in a black tweed jacket with sequins. If that all sounds a bit convoluted, it wasn’t really: the show felt very Coco, very Karl—and very Virginie. Viard reinterpreted Chanel icons like the camellia and bouclé with aplomb, partnering with Lesage to create a dress entirely covered in graphic flowers embroidered from black, white and coral beads, and crafting a bouclé jacket in cheerful pink and white stripe. She danced through decades: there were 1920s drop waist dresses, two-tone Mary Janes from Viard’s beloved 1980s, and peek-a-boo midriffs of the 2020s, embellished with a joyful mix of flounces, fringe, macramé, bright lace, iridescent tweeds, and colorful jeweled buttons. “It’s like a conversation that crosses time,” Viard says.

Related article: Review of Chanel Spring/Summer 2022 Collection