Introducing Le 19M, Chanel’s New Métiers d’Art Headquarters
The new home for the Maison’s artisanal heritage.
Chanel’s legendary address may be 31 Rue Cambon, but if you’re a fan of the Maison, here’s another location that should also be on your radar: 19M, Porte d’Aubervilliers, the northeast corner of Paris.
Built on the 9,000-sq-m land is a seven-level structure that houses all of Chanel’s Métiers d’art businesses and its 600 artisans. “Le 19M is an ambitious project as much for its urban and architectural qualities as for its functionality and its objectives in terms of innovation and sustainable development," explains Chanel president Bruno Pavlovsky.
"Our goal is to maintain and develop the exceptional heritage of the Métiers d’art, at the crossroads of Paris’s cultural influence and the societal issues of fashion."
Designed by Rudy Ricciotti to “recount the relationship between the technical and expert complexity of fashion’s handcraftsmanship, its remarkable virtuosity put to the service of creation and beauty, and the extreme technological nature of my projects”, the building is called Le 19M — ‘M’ in French stands for mains (hands), métier (craftsmanship) and mode (fashion); and 19 for the arrondissement (administrative district) it is located in and Coco Chanel’s birthdate.
The 25,000-sq-m space is the new home of 11 ateliers — embroiderers Lesage and the Montex atelier, shoemaker Massaro, feather and flower expert Lemarié, hatter and milliner Maison Michel, pleater Lognon, grand flou atelier Paloma, goldsmith Goossens and more.
With Le 19M, the fashion house proves its commitment to preserving and developing the savoir faire of the artisanal heritage that started in 1985.
The Métiers d’art 2021/22 show last December was aptly held at the new complex, as creative director Virginie Viard wanted to showcase the collection in the “beating heart of the Métiers d’art”. Focusing on the brand’s signature tweeds and knitwear, the looks are metropolitan yet sophisticated, injected with a hint of playful ease.
The tweed jackets with sweatshirt sleeves, voluminous Bermuda short co-ords and graffiti-inspired embroidery were some of the highlights of the collection. Elsewhere, bags and pockets are adorned with white lines that reference the threads of white concrete on the building facade, and silver sequins emulate the glass exterior.
Accompanying the show was an invitation box that served as an extension of the collection. Remembers Studio was tapped to illustrate eight models — Fran Summers, Pan Haowen, Mariam de Vinzelle, Rianne Van Rompaey, Loli Bahia, Mica Argañaraz, Lola Nicon and Akon Changkou — in imaginary worlds, representing different houses with a twist.
To celebrate the wealth and diversity of craftsmanship, Chanel also invited eight creatives: writers Anne Berest, Lilia Hassaine, Nina Bouraoui, Salomé Kiner and Sarah Chiche; author and composer Clara Ysé; musician and writer Abd Al Malik; and artist Claude MC Solaar to pen down their experience in Le 19M, whether it’s in the form of intimate stories, micro-fiction, poems or a letter.
