Chanel. Fall 2021 Couture. Posted on July 26, 2021 by A.Glass for Chiasmus magazine blog.
(Images: Chanel 2021)
Virginie Viard, after her Resort 2022 showing at the Carrières de Lumières (Quarries of Light), continues to draw from the quiescence of history, yet in its resonation, has been a very influential aspect to French pre-World War Two and post Cold War existentialism and its applied aesthetics ala Jean Cocteau’s “Le testament d’Orphée” (Testament of Orpheus), which inspired Viard’s Resort collection. As the new creative director of Chanel after replacing the late and great Karl Lagerfeld in 2019, Viard has most certainly risen to the challenge of redefining the Coco Chanel motif, to which Largefeld in his 36 year tenure did indeed exasperate a modernist template to the famous fashion house for both Ready-to-Wear and Couture over the years. However, Viard has characterised a darker imprint in her accretion of Chanel, with Gothic, avant-garde and postmodern touches, steering it away from Largerfeld’s clean delineations. Establishing her version of Chanel by setting forth with the fine tailoring that one would expect to reflect her deconstructionist styles, Viard has not at all been subtle or gentle in its reflection of the Chanel legacy.
For her 5th Couture showing since Lagerfeld’s passing, Viard has attempted to tone down the more gardant of her designs of late, despite at times and I say this respectfully, showing a rawness to her Chanel impression that as mentioned has portrayed the more avant-garde touches to Lagerfeld’s modernist poise, with her latest Couture collection softening the Viard vixen template of the 21st Century Chanel woman. By sourcing influences such as Berthe Morisot the 19th Century impressionist and 20th Century Cubist Marie Laurencin who were both important figures in the French avant-garde art movements, combining the techniques of the said disciplines with their own unique feminine touch. Morisot and Laurencin were considered quintessential female artists with their devil-in-the-details of Impressionism and Cubism, while personifying the abstraction of the avant-garde to which Viard has explored with her Fall 2021 couture ensembles.
The finer points of a Couturier expertise can be seen throughout Viard’s latest array, from the individually sewn feathery pieces (dress 4 and 6) layered over tulle full length skirts to the hand stitched intricacies of embroidery patterns. Offering a broader spread of her 37 pieces and for a couture collection it unfortunately feels diluted in its elucidation, utilizing the 19th and early 20th Century French artists as influential points, whilst at the same time paying homage to Coco Chanel’s Parisian flair, it may have faired better as a Ready-to-Wear collection, theme wise, rather than a couture showing.
(A Glass 2021)
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