Chanel always finds a way to surprise us with their Chanel Cruise trip destinations. First Manchester and Dakar, and now Marseille, a focal city for the French press due to unrest and high crime rate. However, the heads of Chanel do not approve of this superficial view of the city and choose to see beyond the stereotypes. In fact, the director of Chanel Virginie Viard explained that Marseille is a city that changes, is vibrant, and is full of energy, all of which are reflected in intensive artistic life while helping her stay in touch with her emotions. After all, numerous young artists are currently moving from Paris to Marseille, as indicated by Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Chanel.
They decided to host the show on the stunning rooftop of the famous Le Corbusier-designed La Cité Radieuse building, which was converted into a catwalk for the Chanel Cruise 2024–2025 collection. This building intended to serve as an independent city, housing families whose houses were damaged by bombing during the conflict, in an effort to create a shared community.
The stylish crowd continued to enjoy the presentation despite the inclement weather. The collection's pastel and bright hues, such as pink, blue, and yellow, contrasted with the gray sky and the concrete surroundings of La Cité Radieuse, a prime example of Brutalist architecture.
The cheerful and lighthearted vibe of Virginie Viard's Cruise 2024–25 collection for Chanel highlighted a more whimsical aspect of Marseille. “The sun, the architecture, the music, the dance: Marseille for me also has a very strong sense of freedom. I was inspired by these codes of everyday life,” says the French house's creative director.
Chanel believes that every cruise stop has its own unique story to tell. Regarding Marseille, the renowned director Ladj Ly, who was also present in the audience, collaborated with the La Horde collective, dancers from the National Ballet of Marseille, and dancer Marion Barbeau to produce a video for the Chanel house. In his writing, he mirrored the idea of a metropolis with a powerful pulse and unbreakable vitality that he described. Simultaneously, the Galerie 19M exhibition, which allows the public to explore various arts through workshops, including ceramics and hand-embroidered pearl details made by the Lesage house, was added to this Marseille experience by the Chanel house. The rapper SCH performed at the Museum of European and Mediterranean Cultures to round off the journey to Marseille.
Conversely, Virginie Viard captured Marseille's spirit in light, code-breaking bermuda suits, crochet cardigans, lace bodysuits, crop tops, and long pearl necklaces.
In addition to pretty dresses with ruffles that showed off a new side of the house, we also saw denim suits with cropped jeans and white broderie anglaise dresses worn with stylish platform flip-flops.