CHANEL

It has been almost a year since the late and great Karl Lagerfeld’s passing, and the beat had most certainly went on at Chanel, with creative director Virginie Viard. A new direction and über-feminine approach, this season saw the French designer imbue the youthful irreverence of Nouvelle Vague into her latest collection for Spring/Summer ’20, with the iconic actress Jean Seberg taking centre stage. “The roofs of Paris remind me of the atmosphere of the Nouvelle Vague,” said Viard. “I saw silhouettes walking on the roofs. I thought about Kristen Stewart playing Jean Seberg and all the actresses Gabrielle Chanel dressed at the time.” Cue asymmetric skirts in silk faille and taffeta, dresses in anthracite chiffon printed with the Parisian skyline, while a Breton-striped jacket evoked the nonchalance of Seberg as Patricia Franchini, in the 1960 Jean-Luc Godard film Breathless.

Chanel creative director Virginie Viard raised the roof at its Spring/Summer ’20 show