Storytelling has always been one of fashion’s greatest fortes. At its most basic, clothing is what you put on your back to shield you from the elements — a utilitarian necessity. At the other end of the spectrum, however, is lifestyle at its most luxurious where the pointed tip of the fashion pyramid supplements frocks and baubles with emotion, identity and aspiration. And yet, in a charmingly contrarian twist, the house of Chanel decided to fuse both the grit of the real world and the rarefied air of high fashion in one fabulous collection, bringing to life, yet again, its founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s quote of how “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the streets. Fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
Of artists + artistry
As a luxury house that has long loved and maintained a strong presence in Asia, particularly South Korea, Chanel made waves recently when it staged its annual Métiers d’art showcase in Seoul. Long-time fans would know of how it was Karl Lagerfeld himself who appointed K-pop superstar G-Dragon as Chanel’s official brand ambassador in 2016, catapulting him immediately into fashion legend as one of the first Asian male spokesmen for the traditionally womenswear-focused maison. Lagerfeld also personally photographed GD (as he is popularly known) for a commemorative Vogue Korea cover a decade ago.
Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion at Chanel
But back to the annual Métiers d’art showcase. It is always something greatly anticipated, and with good reason. Conceptualised in 2002, again by Lagerfeld, who was creative director of Chanel from 1983 until his death in 2019, Métiers d’art is, to put it plainly, ready-to-wear haute couture. But the Chanel show may also be regarded as a billet-doux to the artisans of the craft-specific independent workshops integral to high fashion, such as the embroiderers, feather workers, milliners, jewellery paruriers and shoemakers of august ateliers such as Lesage, Goossens, Massaro and Maison Michel. And it is this yearly tribute that truly shines the spotlight on these behind-the-scenes collaborators, these shy métiers who form the backbone of true couture in their priceless way. To ensure the survival of these handmade skill sets in an increasingly digital age, which became increasingly paramount, Chanel elevated the cause to a whole new plane by creating le19M. Under the leadership of Bruno Pavlovsky, its president (pictured left), the maison began, slowly and systemically, acquiring one by one since the mid-1980s, before ensconcing them within the purpose-built le19M creative hub in Paris in 2021. Its raison d’etre? To safeguard and nurture these traditional arts and craftsmen in one central hub.
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Naturally, Pavlovsky, one of the most ardent guardians of Chanel’s legendary savoir faire, played a key role in its creation. “What we want first is for the existing craftsmen in the ateliers to continue working there for at least another 20 years. Only then can we be sure we are able to train the next generation, securing their capabilities for the long run,” he says, as we met in between Seoul’s two Métiers d’art shows (Chanel, interestingly, decided to split the presentations into two sessions — one in the morning, the other in the afternoon). “The reason Chanel is so linked to métiers d’art is because of this haute couture approach. And because all these different, very small and talented workshops were able to contribute, it became something very important for us, so for Chanel to continue emerging as the most sophisticated [maison].”
“Now, there are over 700 people working in 11 different ateliers, each able to recruit, train and organise the transmission to the new generation of today,” he says. “In fact, when you visit, you will see many young talents, not just mature ones. I believe this is something very important as it shows everyone working in the same direction. And we at Chanel love being able to, if I may, protect all their creative capabilities and agility.
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“It is important to value the human contribution to design,” he continues. “Yes, you can be more efficient but we also want to preserve this heritage. It is super important to me that they, all these custodians of savoir faire, feel connected and continue to be proud of what they are doing. Use the elaborate tools, by all means, but we want them to also know their contribution and creativity is different, unique and something to be appreciated and safeguarded.”
The Seoul show
Chanel’s Métiers d’art collection is also, traditionally, nomadic in nature. Travelling to a different, culturally significant city each year, part of the aim is to highlight a connection to the maison, such as Hangzhou, China, for 2024/25 which paid homage to Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s prized antique Coromandel lacquer screens, and the year before in the manufacturing hub of Manchester, England — a nod to the industrial city’s legendary mills that once supplied cotton to the world.
Under the fresh creative vision of Matthieu Blazy, Métiers d’art 2025/26 was showcased, first at the abandoned Bowery subway station in downtown Manhattan, New York, before it travelled to Asia — to Seoul, to be precise — for an encore. Repeat performances, it must be said, are not always a surety. In recent years, it was only Tokyo, for the 2022/23 collection, that followed on the groundbreaking heels of Dakar, Senegal — a historic occasion that marked the first time a European luxury brand had staged a fashion show in sub-Saharan Africa. But it was not Chanel’s first dalliance with Seoul either, as almost exactly 10 years prior, the maison held its 2015/16 Cruise collection at the neo-futuristic Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the world’s largest three-dimensional building conceived by the late starchitect Zaha Hadid.
The 2026 Seoul replica Métiers d’art show, nevertheless, had its own badge of honour. It scored a coup even before any models walked down the catwalk by being held at the new Centre Pompidou Hanwha, located in the financial district of Yeouido, a full week before the space even opened to the public. This seemed a fitting way to exemplify the increasing consolidation of high fashion with art, the elevation of craft to an art form and the subtle nuance of its quiet strength in being able to shape perception over visual appreciation and the passage of time itself. In short, seasonality and trends are removed and how we choose to dress becomes a truly powerful statement. What the Pompidou Hanwha location also infers is that yet another proverbial bridge is being built — between Europe and Asia, style and substance as well as global culture and community.
But while art in museums is placed on plinths and admired from a distance, Blazy’s debut Métiers d’art collection for Chanel brought the runway to the real world, celebrating the diverse characters of our everyday, strong, hardworking, talented women out and about. For this, Chanel presented an eclectic range of personas, from the dog walker and salary woman to the lady who lunches and even the ubiquitous student. As the models walked the two cavernous galleries of the museum, each look underscored the reason Chanel — and Paris — remain bastions of creative savoir faire. Combining the exquisite couture-level workmanship métiers d’art is known for yet meshed with beautiful yet extreme wearability, the verdict was a resounding commercial and cultural success.
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Of style + making statements
All this news puts a smile on Pavlovsky’s face. The Biarritz-born graduate of Bordeaux’s École Supérieure de Commerce, who also has an MBA from Harvard Business School, had started his career with Deloitte before joining the luxury house in 1990. Overseeing all of the maison’s fashion operations, including its métiers d’art ateliers, it goes without saying that he had a big say in Blazy’s appointment.
“Matthieu is a unique guy and very talented,” he agrees, “What I think is important to know is that Chanel is all about the product, which [Matthieu] knows and understands. But Chanel is also about and for women… and Matthieu loves them all. You can see it in his collections — it is obvious. All types of women are represented, which is super important, and this [makes him] a perfect fit for Chanel. As you can imagine, choosing an artistic director of Chanel is not a job we do every year or every two years. In my time, this has happened only once. So [choosing Matthieu] was a unique process, one that also involved feelings and a sense of connection. At the end of the day, it is difficult to explain, but we felt he was right.”
Asked whether his decades of experience has resulted in instinctive decision-making, Pavlovsky immediately rebuts the thought, saying: “No, not instinctive. We have done a lot of work to ensure all share the right vision. I am also obsessed with products, you know. At the end, it is our clients who will live with the product. They don’t need more things — just the right ones. And so, to create the right product, you have to find the right talent to design it. This is most important. After all, why have a designer who is a genius but wants nothing to do with the clients or doesn’t care what the Chanel woman wants? What is the purpose?”
The show took place at the new Centre Pompidou Hanwha
Despite the obvious success of Métiers d’art 2026, Pavlovsky admits “it is difficult to comment [on the clothes] when one is part of the development and early conversation. We started talking [to Matthieu] the very first day he joined this April, with the collection taking place in December. Trust me, to organise a show in New York is not a last-minute thing. But we knew for Chanel, as a brand, we wanted to go to New York, and Matthieu himself is a lover, or if I may say a fan, of New York. He adored the idea that we go there!”
On the decision to have the replica show in Seoul, Pavlovsky muses: “It is an interesting contrast between the two cities, but it is also a contrast that fits with what Chanel is today. Personally, for me, it is interesting to see a collection go from a New York subway to one of the most promising new museums in Seoul. But why the subway? Why a museum? Because it is where people meet, and in a dynamic city where people live. People come to these places to see, to meet… to be transported. New York was very accessible in theory, a hub of public transport. Seoul, however, is more luxe. But I love how our shows can be unpredictable, moving from Dakar to Tokyo, Lake Como to Singapore and now, New York to Seoul. It is part of what Chanel is — always serving the unexpected, to create unique moves.”
Flower power + beyond
Chanel’s inextricable link to the camellia flower, introduced in 1913 by Mademoiselle and which quickly became one of the house’s timeless design motifs, is a well-known fact. Legend has it that Chanel selected the scentless blossom to ensure it would never compete with her signature fragrance, Chanel No.5. But as an esteemed insider in the Chanel universe, Pavlovsky shares another interesting titbit of information. “When we started Chanel’s first digital site, its name was Camellia and its tagline was ‘Let Chanel Surprise You’,” he smiles broadly. “For me, this sentence still resonates. You see, Chanel has to surprise [our clients].”
Those familiar with the original iteration of the Chanel website would be aware how visitors could virtually interact with a digital camellia, which would then “bloom”, surprising the user with exclusive visual content, stories and archival features about the maison’s iconic emblem. “When you dream of something nice, you wake up in a good mood the next morning. It is not a great example but we do need to keep our clients’ dreams [alive] and to keep them dreaming. You know, one year ago when Matthieu launched his first collection with us, it completely renewed the Chanel design codes — sometimes a bit unexpected, sometimes a bit exaggerated, and yet so much part of today’s world. And just how does one be unexpected? By being daring!”
But beyond uniqueness — an important virtue for Chanel as it was Mademoiselle who pronounced how “in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different” — and mere beauty, the luxury behemoth is also upping its stake in the less glamorous but oh-so important world of sustainability. This comes hot on the heels of its new circularity-focused venture Nevold, a portmanteau of the words “never old”. Dedicated to developing recycled materials at scale, Pavlovsky cites this as a veritable necessity. “In the world of today, one of the treasures is materials, raw materials. We all know the finest quality raw materials are becoming more and more difficult to source and supply, and yet Chanel needs to work with the best and most sophisticated products. So it became imperative for us to invest [in this field].”
Totally convinced the future of fashion can play an important part in minimising strain on the Earth’s resources, Pavlovsky shares how Chanel has already been experimenting with recycled threads in its handbags as well as using processed leather waste in lieu of plastic reinforcements in shoes and carrywear. “This is the reality of the future. Every brand, not just Chanel, will need to use less — less water, less raw fibres and so on — because the Earth is not able to provide enough of all that we need. At Chanel, we believe we have to engage ourselves in this direction and that we can become a leader of tomorrow. This is not a short-term project but a long one. And already we have amazing results from what Nevold is doing. In textiles, we already incorporate a lot of new ‘old’ thread. For example, artisans may use up to a dozen different thread types in the warp and weft of a fabric. We anticipate a big percentage of that to come from circularity-based threads in the future.”
To complement its approach, Nevold has also implemented L’Atelier des Matières, a sub-division unit that breaks down and sorts end-of-life products and waste materials. Not exclusive to Chanel alone, the goal is for the platform to work with and alongside any fashion house wishing to make a better, more earth-friendly product. “What is done already marks a good evolution and I am totally convinced and confident Chanel can be a future leader in this new and better way of doing things.”
After 22 years in the top job, Pavlovsky reiterates how consistency remains a key performance indicator for him. “I am talking about consistency in the way we engage with and surprise our clients, in the way we offer the best products to them and in our conviction that we need tomorrow. Having worked 36 years with Chanel, I can tell you the context has changed a lot. The situation has become more complex, more difficult. We went through crises. For example, it was not easy to replace Karl [Lagerfeld]. We went through Covid-19. But we also made some impactful choices, chief of which was price harmonisation, our bravest yet,” he lets on, referring to the policy of eliminating price disparities in global markets caused by currency fluctuations. This ensures Chanel’s products cost pretty much the same anywhere in the world, fending off luxury “tourists” who hope to pick it up cheaper in one spot, only to flog it off at inflated resale prices elsewhere. “It was a strong sign to send out but we had to. You should come to Chanel because you love Chanel — and not because you want to make money off it,” he states firmly.
Mademoiselle Chanel in repose
On the brassy move, Pavlovsky laughs. “I don’t know if it was confidence or being crazy. But it is obvious it was the right move. And sometimes, you have to make these choices. This is not new for Chanel as we decided, a few years back, not to use exotic leathers or materials in our manufacturing anymore. We were the very first to grind this [practice] to a halt, affirming our stand of only using skins that come from the meat industry.” True to his word, Chanel officially stopped using crocodile, lizard, snake and shagreen since December 2018, making it the first major luxury brand to ban both exotic skins and fur, citing the increasing difficulty of sourcing these materials ethically. “I love fashion but, as a leader, you have to make decisions — tough or not. And when you make decisions, the risk of making mistakes is always there. But better that than being stuck, unable to move forward.”
And to the legions of fashion-forward young hopefuls who dream of someday flashing a name card with the iconic interlocking double C’s, Pavlovsky has this to say: “Believe in your own destiny. To me, that is of utmost importance. You don’t have to work at Chanel to work with Chanel. We are always meeting students and I say this: Stay open to all opportunities. Don’t force yourself into something just because you think you want it. But when the opportunity presents itself and you know it is right for you, take it, move and, most of all, do it.”
