‘Going beyond the runway show, it’s the event as a whole that I took into account. We’ve been thinking about it for three years. I wanted it to happen gently, over several days of deep, respectful dialoguing,” tells Virginie Viard. An abundance of plant motifs, lines and geometric shapes, a profusion of warm colours, sequins and sparkling pendants, alongside the subtlety of lace: with its delicate allure, the CHANEL – Dakar 2022/23. Métiers d’art collection takes shape with long, fitted coats, tight, flared trousers, seventies collars, platform shoes, sweatshirts that are oversized, colourful and embroidered with flowers, multicoloured tweeds and dresses shorter at the front than behind. The beating heart of Virginie Viard’s imagination, a seventies spirit traverses the collection. The popsoul-funk-disco-punk decade with its fascinating freedom, symbolised by an explosion of energy, is embodied by a jubilant woman. In Virginie Viard’s mind, evoking the 1970s is like asking everything that generates their pulse to bring rhythm into our lives today. #CHANELMetiersdArt