Exclusive: Here’s How The Exquisite Chanel Métiers D’Art 2024 Collection Was Made
Chanel’s Métiers d’art collections are, if anything, an annual opportunity for the French luxury maison to showcase the exceptional savoir faire of their ateliers, and the most recent show held in Manchester, England was just that.
The collection was inspired by the Swinging Sixties, the music and sports culture fostered in Manchester, its rebel spirit, and cheeky nods to British culture, fashioned by the skilled hands at Le19M, Chanel’s Métiers d’art headquarters.
Among those skilled hands, Montex is charged with embellishing the collections with its incredibly breathtaking embroidery, and ahead, GRAZIA Singapore gets an exclusive look at how the atelier worked to bring the Métiers d’art 2024 collection to life.
Inspired by the idea of British teatime and cosy vintage Mancunian homes, Montex conjured up a sequinned tapestry of tea cups, teatime treats and delicate florals to enhance the classic Chanel LBD. The time taken to embroider the panel? A cool 270 hours.
This embroidered fabric—seen on the Classic Handbag carried by the model on the runway—took its inspiration from traditional English lace, with heart-shaped patterns framing blooming pastel flowers. In case you were wondering: It took 195 hours, 20 metres of stitched white satin, 11,000 glitters, and 3,500 glass pearls to produce.
Feminine lace, but make it rock ‘n’ roll! Incorporating the Mancunian punk spirit with its house codes, this lace dress was given its rocker edge through the inventive addition of meticulously embroidered aluminium rings. Montex calls this technique “enamelling”—borrowing from jewellery-making traditions—where each ring is hand-cut, pierced, then applied to the fabric with pliers to create the provocative look.
Similarly, the braids in this look were also created using the same enamelling technique by Montex, using almost 900 hand-cut and hand-pierced aluminium and brass hoops to evoke punk piercings, paired with Chanel’s signature tweed in a grey and white brick pattern recalling the city’s streets.
In another example of the enamelling technique employed by Montex in this collection, aluminium rings of varying sizes are worked onto the black lace on the front of this sleeveless dress, harking to the punks of Manchester, and the city’s ties to rock music. Seen up close, the effect is as striking as it is on the runway.
Discover the Chanel Métiers d’Art 2024 collection in stores and online now.