On Thursday 2nd November 2023, the CHANEL Cruise 2023/24 show made a stopover in Shenzhen, in south-east mainland China.
After Los Angeles last May, the collection designed by Virginie Viard was presented at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Centre in a new setting, which had been laid out like a black-and-white sports pitch for the occasion. In the spirit of the first show held at the legendary Paramount film studios, a big scoreboard was suspended from the centre of the set, while a giant screen showed a black-and-white film by Inez & Vinoodh. In it, the skyline of Shenzhen and the palm trees of Los Angeles blend together forming the backdrop to images of actress and CHANEL ambassador Alma Jodorowsky as well as the models Nora Attal, Huijia Chen, Fanny François, Angelina Kendall, Mahany Pery and Qun Ye. The cinematic atmosphere evokes both Hollywood myth and the golden age of aerobics.
The collection once again deployed the many facets of its colourful, joyful and elegant universe with each passing look. Between the world of sport and rollerskating and the glamour of 1920s and 30s film stars, embroidered swimsuits and rhinestone mini shorts gave way to 1960s-style suits, casual bathrobes and pyjamas, wrap jackets and evening dresses, worn with 1930s shoes or disco platform sandals.
CHANEL ambassadors Marion Cotillard, Whitney Peak, Caroline de Maigret, Zhou Xun, Liu Wen, Wang Yibo, Liu Shishi, Jing Boran, William Chan, Ning Chang, Xin Zhilei and Zhang Zifeng were present alongside leading figures and emerging talents of Chinese cinema.
The day before the show, a first Talk celebrating CHANEL’s special relationship with the seventh art was held at the Dolby Theatre, in the presence of director and House ambassador Audrey Diwan, and directors Zhang Dalei and Zihan Geng, hosted by journalist and producer Chen Luyu. The themes were the diversity and allure of women on screen as well as how cinema can connect us and its ability to transform the way we see the world.
On Friday 3rd November, 170 students from fashion, art, design and management schools in Shenzhen are invited to a second Talk in the presence of Bruno Pavlovsky, President of CHANEL Fashion, in the company of the House ambassadors Marion Cotillard, Zhou Xun and Liu Wen, and presented by Tyler Brûlé, founder and editor-in-chief of Monocle magazine.
Finally, on 3rd and 4th November, artist André – who created the posters for the Los Angeles and Shenzhen shows – will be doing a live painting performance that is open to all on the esplanade of MixC, Shenzhen’s emblematic mall.
CHANEL CHANEL CRUISE CHANEL in Shenzhen Chanel Show