Best Looks from Chanel's Fall/Winter 2022/23 Ready-to-Wear Show

Virginie Viard's vision for Fall/Winter was nothing short of poetic. Devoting the entire collection to tweed, a textile that has become synonymous with the maison, Viard takes us on a journey, tracing the footsteps of its founder, Gabrielle Chanel, along the River Tweed. Viard expresses how Chanel would, while on her walks through the picturesque, Scottish countryside, gather various forms of flora such as ferns and bouquets of flowers to inspire the local artisans of tones that she desired. This imagery served as an inspiration to Viard, as she imagined tweeds in the colours of this landscape. 

The romanticism of the collection does not stop there. It is truly Chanel, that rendered tweed feminine and the story of how tweed came to be the house's hallmark fabric, stems from its founder's story with the Duke of Westminster and his jackets that she made her own. Chanel was said to have often borrowed clothes from her lover, the Duke of Westminister, as she felt drawn to the ease and comfort they provided. Inspired by his tweed fishing and hunting jackets, Chanel, now famous for infusing menswear sensibility into women's clothing, began working with tweed for her womenswear in the mid-1920s. It is this exact contemporary gesture that is captured in the spirit of this collection.

A timeless textile that has transcended through maison's history, from the early days of its founder to the Karl Lagerfeld era and now, Viard, who has put her own, fun, whimsically playful yet edgy stamp on the fabric, showing that like fashion and the ever-changing tastes of new audiences, Chanel's beloved tweed will grow and evolve, updating itself to adapt to new trends and palates. 

A misty morning spread of pastel hues combine tweed with denim and shearling textures is teamed with ultra-chic, rubber wellington boots adorned with Chanel's signature. Evoking visages of a dreamy winter walk in the countryside, soft heather tones, lightened by the ethereal glimmer of pastel sequins feature on luxurious layers of elegant, cashmere double C knitwear paired with a tweed skirt that featured a unique, flirty, scalloped, macrame edge. 

Vibrant coats dotted the collection in striking hues of pink, magenta and turquoise, hinting at bright, colourful record covers of 1960s England and the mod era. Deliciously trendy '00s-esque oversized cardigans dressed delightful matchy-matchy looks in a nod to the '90s and Y2k era of fashion, while plaid was seen cleverly refashioned in the iconic tweed textile, winking at the punk fashion of the early '00s. Flashes of hot pink mixed with deeper tones of navy and black further enhanced the early '00s punk notes of the collection, while shorter, cropped tops and paired with longer skirts shorter hems are seen paired with full tweed stockings or high socks, bringing a refreshing, youthful vibe to the weighty fabric.

Creating layers that played with the eye, the silhouettes twisted our ideas of tweed being used solely on jackets and suits. From rose-covered knitwear and long, soft jackets, tweed belts, tweed buttons and 3D tweed camellia brooches, the versatility of tweed was in full display, in all its glory.