Chanel Cruise 2022: 10 Rock-Inspired Looks for the Modern Punk Princess
Kicking off the Cruise 2022 fashion show circuit, Chanel and Virginie Viard took their audience to the Carrières de Lumières, in France's Les Baux-de-Provence, a former limestone quarry with soaring cliff faces that now house a stunning light show celebrating the art world's most recognisable names. But another artist with a deep connection with the French maison was the star of Cruise 2022: Jean Cocteau.
Cocteau was a close friend and frequent collaborator of Gabrielle Chanel—the designer outfitted many of Cocteau's theatrical productions, while the artist produced many flattering portraits of Chanel and her creations (bear in mind this was before photography and fashion illustrations were the main mode of visual communication). Cocteau also has another link to the venue of Chanel's Cruise 2022 show, having used it as the setting of his 1960 black-and-white art film, Testament of Orpheus.
The Cocteau influence lent itself in the collection's strict monochrome palette of monastic black and white, with a sparing splash of colour (pastel pink tweed, the tiniest bit of turquoise and sky blue, ostrich feathers dipped in lilac) that echoed Cocteau's colour treatment in the film. "The simplicity, the precision and the poetry of Cocteau's film made me want to create a very clean collection, with a very distinct two-tone, made up of bright white and deep black," explained Viard in her show notes.
But Viard is very much a modern woman, and the past only influences her work so much. Pulling from sources as disparate as punk, mod and rock 'n roll, the designer deftly turned out a collection that dripped with irreverence and attitude, while staying on tangent with the house's iconic codes. "I wanted something quite rock. Lots of fringes, in leather, beads and sequins, T-shirts bearing the face of the model Lola Nicon like a rock star, worn with tweed suits trimmed with wide braids, and pointed silver Mary-Janes," said Viard.
Related: Chanel Has the Most Gorgeous Coats For Fall-Winter 2021
Comfort—a cornerstone of Viard's design philosophy—articulated itself in loose T-shirts, knit tracksuits and tank tops, as seen on models such as Mica Argañaraz and Jill Kortleve. The house's icons—the camellia flower, the Chanel No. 5 flaçon, pearl necklaces—became a dominant graphic print used liberally throughout the collection. And charmingly, the designer also paid homage to Provence with summer floral embroidery on dungarees and mutton sleeve dresses.
Click through our gallery below for the most striking looks from the Chanel Cruise 2022 show.
