Inside the World of Chanel’s Maisons

Hi friends,

Happy Paris Fashion week for those who celebrate! From the long slate of runway shows to the debut of next season’s trends, PFW is a whirlwind of chaos. As someone who grew up reading Vogue with my mom at the dinner table, I quickly fell in love with the world of fashion for all it’s glossy, perfectly manicured imagery. Though luxury brands are always fighting for the top position on the fashion stage, Chanel was and still continues to be one of my Holy Grail brands. As the epitome of luxury, heritage, class, and sophistication, Chanel represents a dream of Parisian elegance. It is the definition of what it means to be chic and the brand holds all the mythology closely within its iconic interlocking C’s.

As part of the European Heritage Days in Paris, Chanel’s 19M opened its doors to the public for a rare, free guided tour through its offices and ateliers. 19M is the HQ for Chanel’s twelve artisanal Maisons who all specialize in a separate skill used for creating haute couture. From intricate embroidery to the creation of Chanel’s iconic tweed, each maison employs the best craftspeople to create details that go beyond the imagination.

After visiting the Kering corporate offices and seeing the latest Balenciaga exposition, I headed to Aubervilliers, the suburb located North of Paris to visit the 19M building. I stood outside alone for hours in the long queue of people desperately hoping for a chance to be let in before the last group of people. Despite several staff members telling us in line that we probably won’t make it inside, I persevered and two hours later I made it inside.

The free tour was a little over an hour long. We were gathered into small groups and were taken from guide to guide who shared everything from the architectural design of the building to the craftsmanship of the different Maisons. Mind you the tour is done exclusively in French but honestly fashion is a universal language so you don’t need to understand French to get the most out of the visit. The visit was divided into three parts: inside Maison Lesage (embroidery) atelier, inside Chanel’s textile room, and lastly, an exposition “Lesage, 100 years of fashion and decoration”.

Part 1: Inside Maison Lesage

I’ve visited 19M previously to participate in an embroidery workshop hosted by Lesage, so I was already generally familiar with the Maison and it’s specialty. When most people think of embroidery, they probably think of a grandma sitting on a rocking chair embroidering a napkin. At Maison Lesage, embroidery takes the highest form with the use of beads, sequins, and other decorative materials. It’s an extremely labor-intensive and delicate process of creating perfectly aligned embellishments used for pockets, handbags, gowns, and every garment in between. Everything is done by hand in the tradition of haute couture. First, the designer sends a sketch to the team who then create a paper model in order to plan the embroidery pattern and test its feasibility. Once the pattern and paper model are finalized, then the actual embroidery process can start and an artisan hand sews each bead or sequin by hand.

Part 2: Inside Chanel’s Textile Room

When I say I died and went to heaven, this is where I probably ended up. Every fashion girly can recognize a Chanel tweed suit from a mile away. Made from dozens of yarns woven together by hand, the process of making tweed is a highly technical and slow-moving process. Famously modernized by Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel’s tweed is constantly being referenced and restructured to keep up with the changing trends of contemporary fashion.

My favorite element in the room was the series of mood boards with swatches of tweed next to each look that it was created with from Chanel’s previous runway shows. In this way, you can also see all the different yarns that it took just to create a simple swatch of fabric.

Part 3: Lesage, 100 years of Fashion and Decoration

By the end of the visit, my phone was at 2% and on airplane mode to try to conserve battery. Nevertheless, I still tried to take as many photos and videos as possible to memorialize my visit. After the tour, I had the option to view the exhibition located on the first floor of the building. The exposition explained more details about Maison Lesage and showed examples of the Maison’s work across other brands like Balenciaga and Jacquemus. My favorite pieces included the Karl Lagerfeld bridal tweed suit with white beaded embroidery and a Chinese inspired dress with ancient motifs in black beading.

As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read my latest blog post. Whenever I get to experience such special moments like this in Paris, I’m always so excited to share them here with you on the blog. It’s always so remarkable that experiences like this are free and it makes me feel so grateful for being able to live in Paris. I so enjoyed going to this tour on my own and observing all of the people from different backgrounds who like me waited in line and came to ask questions about the mythical world of high fashion. Thank you for coming along this little fashion adventure with me and happy PFW!

À bientôt,

Kiana