Chanel’s Bruno Pavlovsky is taking meetings on the terrace of the Beverly Hills Hotel. In a ballroom off the opposite side of the lobby, dozens of models, dressers, and members of the atelier, as well as photographers capturing all of it for content, are zipping around in the hush amidst the “accessoirsation” of the final looks for today’s Chanel resort show. Virginie Viard, the house’s artistic director, is at the centre of it all.
The ostensible reason for this resort show in Los Angeles, only the second outside of France since Viard assumed her role in 2019, is the new 30,000-square-foot, four-floor flagship at the corner of Rodeo Drive and Brighton Way, which opened this week. The store, a decade in the making and built from the ground up, was designed by Peter Marino and now qualifies as the largest Chanel boutique in the US, outsizing the Miami Design District space that opened in 2021.
“It’s the perfect size to display our collection from watches and fine jewellery to fashion and accessories. But it’s also an infrastructure able to offer the best customer experience,” said Pavlovsky. He pointed out the “very open, very welcoming” floor plan, which includes a fine jewellery corner at the entrance and integrated ready-to-wear and accessories rooms on the second floor. Floors three and four are dedicated to VIPs and VVIPs and include a terrace with views of the Hollywood sign, which the brand has reproduced in the Rodeo Drive window, only with the block letters spelling Chanel. The natural light makes it unique. Because the store occupies a double-lot corner space, there are large, multistory windows at the front and back. “Peter has done the right openings where we needed them,” said Pavlovsky.
As the destination show has returned in full force across fashion, the fashion show as a spectacle is a key part of Chanel’s strategy. In December, Chanel staged a show in Dakar, where Pavlovsky said it was important for the “ultimate luxury house” to have a presence.
“I think that each new collection is the opportunity to have a bigger orchestration; it’s becoming such an important moment in every single boutique — the way to connect the customer, to give access to the collection. We are protected because we’re trying to continue to work as closely as possible with all these customers,” he said.
By coming to Los Angeles, Chanel is also spotlighting its connection to Hollywood, too. A special issue of the Chanel magazine 31 Rue Cambon, which Pavlovsky flips through during our meeting, has been designed to point this out. The actress and brand ambassador Margaret Qualley appears on its cover, and inside, there’s one piece touting the house’s near-100-year involvement with the movies and another about a new film from the French actress and director Maiwenn that Chanel has partnered on through costumes and high jewellery.
“For me, and even more for Virginie, cinema is part of our création,” said Pavlovsky. “Chanel is probably one of the most active brands in this area. We are supporting many actresses; we are supporting many producers, many film festivals.” Two films that Chanel has not and will not be partnering on: a Karl Lagerfeld biopic that Jared Leto is said to be starring in and producing, and Kaiser Karl, a Disney+ series about the late, legendary designer in which Daniel Bruhl will assume the lead role.
“We know the real Karl; we don’t need to create a Karl,” Pavlovsky said. “The exhibition at the Met is about the real Karl; I don’t think it’s the job of Chanel in any case to say anything about Karl.” He went on: “From my point of view, he’s impossible to illustrate in only a one or two-hour movie. Karl was much more than that. And what will be impossible to describe is how nice but how provocative he was in everything. It’s difficult to explain somebody who was always one step ahead.”
It was May 2007 when Karl Lagerfeld staged Chanel’s second-ever resort collection in Los Angeles. At that show, models stepped out of a Chanel-branded jet at a Santa Monica aeroplane hangar. Tonight’s will take place on the Paramount Studios lot, where Writers Guild of America members and supporters have been picketing, having launched a strike last week.
“It’s no concern directly for our show because we are not part of that [the labour dispute between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers],” explained Pavlovsky. “We probably would prefer to see a normal situation, but we are facing in many countries a lot of social changes, and we want to see them solved. I think it’s quite important to protect the talents, who they are and where they are. It’s my point about création.”
Towering over Melrose Place and other well-trafficked LA spots (Instagram, as well) are billboards announcing the cruise show that read “One Night Only” with lists of celebrity names. Depending on the location, Kristen Stewart, Margot Robbie, and Nile Rodgers get top billing; presumably, they’ll be in the crowd this evening. “It’s for us the opportunity to be where they live,” said Pavlovsky.
He is bullish about Chanel’s performance in the US post-pandemic. “In the US — but not only in the US — during the past few years, through Covid, we have been able to create a very strong relationship with most of our customers, who have been buying, including when the boutiques were closed, who’ve been very interested in Virginie’s collections,” Pavlovsky said. “So, at the moment, we are still doing quite well.”
Source: VOGUE Business
