Hanel loves Miami. From beautiful beaches to Art Deco architecture to the newly renovated Design District, there are many reasons why the French fashion house chose to showcase its Magic City Cruise show. Using the Faena Hotel’s beach against the Atlantic Ocean as their backdrop, the beloved label recently staged two shows to draw attention to its cruise collection, sending models down the runway-turned-catwalk.
“This is the best way to celebrate our clients. We can’t invite all of them to Paris, Monaco or anywhere else,” Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel’s president of fashion operations and president of SAS, said in an interview with Vanity Fair.
The collection, which will hit boutiques later this month, was presented on sets designed by director Baz Luhrmann and costume designer Katherine Martin. We explore a variety of styles, from cottages to motorsports, Monte Carlo ballet, casinos, and red loungers inspired by French styles. Riviera. “Everything is perfect, thanks to the color, the energy here in Miami. You can forget about Monaco and imagine that this collection was made for Miami,” says Pavlovsky.
Visitors included clients, press and VIP guests. Caroline de Maigret, Pharrell Williams, Lily-Rose Depp, Marion Cotillard, Nile Rodgers, Arden Cho, Ella Balinska. Veteran brand ambassador de Maigret visited the shows in Monaco and now Miami and said the city was ideal for the collection’s fun, fresh and sporty vibe. “In Monaco, there is a story that Gabrielle Chanel went there and then Karl Lagerfeld went there. It’s funny!” he said.
After the show, guests enjoyed a casual party on the sand with music by DJ Allie Teilz and a special performance by Nile Rodgers and CHIC. Rodgers introduced the audience to a catalog of hits like “Le Freak,” “Good Times” and “I Want Your Love,” and songs he wrote for Diana Ross and others. He proceeded to a detailed sister list. Sled, Madonna, David Bowie. The night didn’t end there, soon Pharrell Williams took the stage to perform his hit song “Get Lucky.”
When he told Williams about his early memories of Chanel, he immediately replied, “Biggie!” Before reciting the poem Notorious B.I.G. “One More Chance”: “…Chanel Baby Benz Bag is on sale at Hyundai Excel…”
The next day, Brand invited 190 students from local universities to a Pavlovsky masterclass moderated by Tyler Bruhl, president and editor-in-chief of Monocle Magazine, with Williams and de Megret. During a discussion at le19M, a cultural center dedicated to métiers d’art fashion in Paris, Pavlovsky and Williams discussed Chanel’s upcoming Métiers d’art show, a three-day festival in Dakar next month. The two highlighted Dakar as an influential arts capital on the international stage, dominated by the fields of fashion, cinema, dance, music and art.
