Chanel’s Spring Summer 2020 Ready-to-wear collection marked as Virginie Viard’s first solo collection as the Artistic Director of the French fashion house. With classic silhouettes and familiar prints, the designer elevated the jewelry to another level.
Chanel is now has a magnifying legacy of two visionaries of all times, Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld. The French fashion house has always redefined the societal norms to free the spirit of womanhood in every shape and form. From introducing trousers for women, Coco Chanel wanted to show a fearless side of women through jewelry as well. The designer always termed jewelry: A piece of jewelry should cause astonishment at most, not envy. It should remain an ornament and amusement. Since then, jewelry has become an indispensable part of the Chanel silhouettes and allure.
The first of the costume jewelry pieces was launched in the 1920s. Coco Chanel simplified the traditional settings to glorify the form and shape, giving it a new meaning altogether. She made fluidity a principle and liberty a virtue and established a timeless code for creativity. The designer merged faux pearls with precious metals to create some of the most extraordinary and unique designs. Collaborating with various goldsmiths and costume jewelry makers to bring her dreams to reality, she crafted masterpieces that would complement the silhouettes. Chanel often used symbols and codes that she felt resonated with the persona of a free-spirited and headstrong woman.
Karl Lagerfeld took the essential lessons of jewelry from Coco Chanel and incorporated the designs in every way possible. The double Cs, lions, camellias, pearls, and soon became associated with the brand and the unofficial logos as well. The brand’s iconic double C’s were then spotted at every season in the mainstay in the form of cropped out for earrings or brooches, and bracelets. Continuing with the tradition of collaborating with jewelry makers for the jewelry collection, a major part of the collection is still entrusted to Desrues. Further, in his tenure, Lagerfeld infused many concepts with the essence of the Chanel brand to create jewelry pieces and accessories that surpassed expectations every time.
The final day of the Paris Fashion Week last year saw a much-awaited show. Karl Lagerfeld’s successor, Virginie Viard, presented her first collection after becoming the Artistic Director of Chanel. Viard is the first woman to lead the fashion house after Gabrielle Chanel herself. The Spring Summer 2020 RTW Collection displays a marvelous conjugation of the eternal Chanel style with Karl Lagerfeld’s persona. The show at the Rue Cambon did not see elaborate and extravagant sets like Lagerfeld’s, and the garments echoed Gabriella Chanel with every model walking in. Playing with the classic colors of monochromes, pinks, and reds of tweed dresses, playsuits, garçonne coat dresses, and little bell-shaped skirts, the jewelry that accompanied every dress was characterized by softness yet a loud statement of glamour.
The collection consists of over 54 pieces, ranging from bracelets, necklaces, earrings, to cuffs, brooches, and rings. The collection extensively uses glass and faux pearls, resins, calfskin, denim, and precious metals. A major part of the collection still reimagines the double Cs in metal and strass brooches or metal dangling earrings, or pearl-studded studs or long necklaces. With cluster necklaces and camellia, rings take you back to the 1920s with the double C and stars detailing. The collection also features a versatile collection of earrings from studs to danglers to clip-on earrings in various styles. Apart from the reimagined interpretations, the brand also introduces a few funkier brooches like the guitar-shaped, a cassette tape, a belt, denim, a metal double C, and a vinyl brooch with the word ‘Chanel’ inscribed on it. The collections have some elaborate pieces like metal, glass, pearl, and strass intricately designed cuff or metal and calfskin earrings in the brand’s iconic letter C.
The Spring Summer 2020 marked the beginning of a new era, where the modern woman would grow even stronger and express herself in her true form, just like her matching jewelry.
