Three years in the imagining, shaping and making, Chanel has just realised its 2022/23 Métiers d’art collection in the heart of Dakar. This annual celebration of the house’s artisanal “savoir-faire” is always a conversation with its destination and this edition, Chanel’s first in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighted the Senegalese capital’s cultural riches across fashion, art, literature, cinema and music.

The first glance of the collection and its collaborative spirit came with a preview story lensed by Malick Bodian (who also shot in Dakar for Nataal issue 3) and Ib Kamara. These images, gave us a taste for key looks from the collection set against the streets of Paris.

Then revealed was a documentary series by renowned filmmaker Ladj Ly who worked with students from the Kourtrajmé film school to capture the spirit of the collection. “The idea of this project is to build a bridge between the school in Montfermeil and the one in Dakar,” says Ly of the institution he established in both France and Senegal offering free film industry training. “Kourtrajmé's motto has always been total freedom. We explained the project to the students, gave them a vision and then they suggested things with their own artistic identity all while remaining faithful to the world of Chanel.”

On the day before the show at the former Palais de Justice in Dakar, Chanel hosted a literary rendezvous hosted by historian Fanny Arama and Chanel ambassador Charlotte Casiraghi. It honoured the writer Marie Ndiaye with performances by actress Rokhaya Niang, rapper Nix and kora player Noumoucounda Cissoko. The catwalk show, on 6 December, opened with a performance by dancers from the École des Sables (the African dance school by legendary choreographer Germaine Acogny) working with the Slow Show’s Dimitri Chamblas and soundscaped by Obree Daman and his choir. And for the show’s finale, guests enjoyed the amapiano sounds of DJ/producer DBN Gogo.

“Going beyond the runway show, it’s the event as a whole that I took into account. I wanted it to happen gently, over several days of deep, respectful dialoguing,” says Chanel artistic director, Virginie Viard. “It is this human and warm dimension that motivates my work and that I try to re-transcribe. I put all my soul into it. These marvellous encounters from which artistic adventures like this one are born, that's what drives me.”

As such, the story does not end here. Ensuring a legacy for Chanel’s relationship with Senegal, La Galerie du 19M will come to Dakar in January 2023 to launch a programme at the Musée Théodore-Monod d'art africain promoting the art of embroidery and weaving crafts. Le19m, Chanel’s new home for its 11 maison d’art, the Maison ERES and this multidisciplinary gallery, is where much of the Métiers d’art collection magic happened. So now les petit mains of Paris meet the artists and the public of Dakar to explore how these crafts intertwine with other disciplines to take traditional skills into the future. Contributions will come from architect Mamy Tall, designer Selly Raby Kane and curator Olivia Marsaud among others.

So, what of the collection itself? Viard set her sights on the counter cultures of the 1970s to imagine a dazzling series of liberated looks on a diverse roll call of models. A masterclass in understated opulence, signature suiting, bold flares, fine knits and tiered dresses mixed effortlessly with sweat shirts, miniskirts and distressed denims traversing a warm colour palette befitting of the inviting, leafy location. Geometric and floral motifs (specifically camellias) were discovered in intricately beaded embroideries, delicate lace and tweeds while a healthy smattering of sequinned collars and oodles of gold and pearl chains added to the mood of subtle maximalism only made possible by the formidable craftsmanship of Métiers d’art.

Words Helen Jennings
Published on 12/12/2022