Chanel’s Bruno Pavlovsky On Cruise 2020/21, Covid, and what Karl Would Say…

Hours after its digital presentation was revealed the maison’s President of Fashion sat down with Bazaar to discuss steering the beloved brand through quite possibly its most tumultuous waters yet…

What happens when a fundamental pillar of a brand – spectacular, large-scale destination shows in some of the world’s most fabulous, far-flung locales – suddenly falls victim to Covid-19’s relentless grip?

That’s exactly what Chanel found itself having to navigate these past few months, having announced back last September – now a distant memory of blithe optimism – that its always-grand Cruise collection would be showcased on the jet-set isle of Capri; the perfect backdrop for clothing that would no doubt be purchased for jaunts to this exact spot.

“The idea is the Mediterranean, its islands, the summer, and that always makes me think of the 1960s, all those legendary actresses holidaying on the Italian and the French Riviera,” Virginie Viard, the maison’s Creative Director told Harper’s Bazaar Arabia about the joyful collection, rooted in hazy summer hedonism. “Sunshine, sophistication, something that is very simple. And beautiful vibrant colours, just like the shades of the bougainvillea.”

Fast-forward to May, and the world was a very different place, leading Chanel to announce that the show must indeed go on, albeit in an equally different guise than originally planned; a digital presentation in the form of a seven-minute video directed by Julien Pujol.

Still encouraging us to dream, the virtually presented collection, titled Balade en Méditerranée (A Trip Around The Mediterranean) was not only proof of the house’s deft ability to adapt, but also displayed its dedication to wearability – specifically now, when customers demand more from their clothes than ever.

“This collection has been conceived to travel light, with just a few multipurpose items of clothing. A long jacket in black chiffon that can be worn over a swimsuit or with jeans in the evening. And if worn against bare skin, it becomes a déshabillé,” Virginie continued. Proof, perhaps, that Covid-19 has engendered a change in philosophy around smarter tactics in what we buy, and why.

Just hours after the digital presentation – a first for Chanel – Bazaar sat down (virtually, of course) with President of Fashion at Chanel, Bruno Pavlovsky, to discuss Cruise, Covid, and what Karl would say…

“To be very frank, I couldn’t imagine in January, when we had Haute Couture, that a few weeks later we would be in such a situation,” Bruno says, expressing the sentiment of so many. “So we needed to adapt and keep in mind that the most important thing is to continue to seduce and to propose a kind of dream. Something amazing!”

Dreaming is at the very heart of Cruise – a season, it is said, breathed to life by Gabrielle Chanel herself for her customers who would vacation by the coast; most notably, Biarritz. Cruise is so entwined with the maison, in fact, that in December 1933, Harper’s Bazaar published an article on the subject of ‘Cruise clothes’ where the entire concept was illustrated by a Chanel design.

“It’s a very symbolic collection,” Bruno explains. “Chanel was the very first one to create it and make it visible, starting [officially] in 2000 with Karl, so 20 years later I think it’s very important for us to continue.”

Indeed, for all luxury brands that create Cruise collections, it is these that remain in store the longest, and – broadly – boast the largest sell through rate. So does it necessarily follow, then, that within almost 10 collections that Virginie produces a year, Cruise is the most important of them all? Bruno has a predictably savvy, diplomatic response; akin to a man being asked of all his children, which one is his favourite.

“The main ready-to-wear collections are very important, too,” he smiles. “It’s kind of like a creative evolution and competition, even if we don’t like the term ‘competition.’ But we have two very special ‘moments’ [each year] with Cruise and Métiers d’art [the latter being another collection pioneered by Chanel, shown every December since 2002 to showcase the best of its dedicated métiers, from embroidery to millinery]. “It’s about taking time with our partners; be it press, customers, influencers… when it’s not the rush of a 20-minute show. They’re all important, though!”

And of course, they are, each a crucial cornerstone of the house that Gabrielle built – and that Bruno, Karl, and now Virginie, are upholding to such high standards. In an age of extreme choice, it is no mean feat to have your brand heard loud and clear above the cacophony, and it is Bruno’s responsbility to ensure that Chanel remains “one of the most successful business models based on creativity,” as he once told Business of Fashion.

The best way of doing so is the simple-sounding but no doubt intricate balancing act of maintaining heritage codes whilst consistently looking to the future. Last October, Bruno had said they needed to imagine the Chanel of tomorrow. But in a post-Covid world, what does that now look like?

“Chanel is not just a fixed image; we have a strong link to the past. I think that Chanel has held the interest of many people from all generations because we are very loyal to our codes, but at the same time, we work on them all year long to make them modern and part of the future,” he explains. So does the Chanel of tomorrow look different now than it did when he first made that statement?

“Absolutely! The context was a bit different!” he laughs. “Adapting has to be the permanent posture of the brand. Not to imagine everything is done, but to challenge ourselves. And after what we’ve seen in the last five months, we have needed to adapt ourselves more than ever, so it’s been kind of an acceleration. We’ve always had to adapt for our customers, but I’ve also heard many rumours where [detractors] don’t share that point of view. They can say whatever they want, that’s fine, but at Chanel we find a way to continue to emerge and to create the dream and the desire.”

And the numbers don’t lie. According to Business of Fashion, in 2018, Chanel released financial results for the first time, reporting revenue of almost $10 billion [Dhs3.67 billion] for fiscal year 2017. Desire, it seems, is still going strong in the Chanel universe.

There’s no doubt, however, that – along with the passing of the maison’s formidable, long-time Creative Director, Karl Lagerfeld in 2019, the appointment of his right-hand woman, Virginie Viard to the post that same year, and now the juggernaut of coronavirus impacting everything from production to spending habits, the maison is sailing through unprecedented change. We ask what Karl – with his inimitable, and outspoken, view on life – would have been saying if he were still with us.

“To be honest, I don’t know, and we’ve been talking quite a lot about that with Virginie. We are not Karl, she is not Karl and I am not Karl. But what we’re doing is what we feel is meaningful for the brand today. It’s more about Chanel than about Karl. We are sure collectively, though, that he would have been terrified by the [Covid] situation. When it was about illness and health etc…” he trails. “But he would no doubt have had some good sentences or one-liners… he would have said some shocking thing, but we liked that with Karl because he liked to be quite provocative. We aren’t the same. But we all miss the guy and his little provocations,” he laughs affectionately.

Since the digital reveal of the Cruise collection, Chanel has returned – true to form – with a socially-distanced yet nonetheless grand showcasing of SS21; a physical runway show in Paris’ Grand Palais against a giant Chanel motif mimicking the Hollywood sign. Bruno had told us, “Even if Cruise wasn’t possible in Capri, it was crucial to get us through this crisis by having our team come back to some energy.” We can safely say that energy is back – and with Chanel, that it never really went away.

Images courtesy of Karim Sadli and Chanel.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s November 2020 issue.