Chanel Vs The British Working Class

In today’s video I talk about Chanel’s recent Pre-Fall 2024 fashion runway show / collection by Virginie Viard. We talk about everything from Chanel’s take over of Thomas Street in Manchester to a client visit to a Manchester United game against Chelsea.

Chanel taking to a street in Manchester, the post-industrial metropolis 160 miles from London in northern Britain, caused all sorts of a kerfuffle. Why? Virginie Viard revealed her own personal backstory for choosing to support the proudly edgy multi-layered working-class culture of the English town, and it included everything from its prowess in football to the Madchester music and clubbing scene (as it was famed in the ’80s and ’90s) to its historical status as the original powerhouse of textile mill manufacturing in the 19th century.

“I like small towns,” she declared. “Not like London—it’s too much like Paris. My grandfather and grand-uncle managed the football team in Lyons. My grandfather and grandmother also worked in making fabrics there.”

So there she nailed some of the unlikely multiple cross connections between her roots and the French luxury house (Lyons being her provincial hometown, the traditional supplier of haute couture fabric manufacturing), as well as to Coco Chanel herself, who apparently fell for English-made tweeds when she was involved with the Duke of Westminster and spending time at his Eaton Hall country estate outside Manchester. Then, there’s Viard’s own-generation love of Joy Division and the all the gritty music and arts energy that’s been characterizing this Northern rival to London since, well, forever.

The Northern culture immersion began with a Chanel invitation to a Manchester United v Chelsea football match the night before the show (itself a North-South gladiatorial contest). Guests were issued with personalized No 5 (as in Chanel No 5) Man U red football jerseys to cheer on the home team. Result: Man U 2, Chelsea 1. Things kicked off to an auspicious start.

Rain is the other thing Manchester’s famous for—think of L.S. Lowry’s paintings of ‘matchstick’ people bent against the weather as they trudged to work in the mills. Right on cue, it poured down for the Métiers d’ Art show. Throngs of umbrella-wielding international guests took to pub-style outdoor seats along Thomas Street, a typical red-brick neighborhood strip of bars, record shops, tattoo parlors, and independent businesses Chanel-ified with a roof covering for the night.

The Northern-girl interpretation was styled with a knowing wink to working-class ’60s-to-’80s pop culture, all side-flicked fringes and bare legs (Manchester types being nationally famed for defying the cold). Viard’s known for bringing a sense of the real and the youthful to Chanel. She played with variations on tweed suits, knee-length to A-line minis, cycle shorts under coats, Beatle caps, and chain belts. Then came the New Wave club girls, some clad in black patent leather—treated to some sort of cool rain-spattered effect—others in baby-doll dresses with bodices embellished with double-C safety-pin or vinyl-record jet embroidery.

Karl Lagerfeld instituted the Métiers d’Art shows to display the craftsmanship of the specialist couture supply—houses that Chanel owns. Lesage elaborates the embroidery, Goossens the jewelry, Lemarie the feather work, Montex the embroideries, and Barrie the Scottish cashmere knits. Viard had fun with souvenir slogan-sweaters, beanies, and scarves inspired partly by football terraces, partly by club flyer graphics.

It was all very Chanel and very Parisian, of course; she never strays that far from the house classics. There was also kind of a faithfulness to the smartness standards of Manchester women and girls. Even when money’s been tight—on factory-worker wages—being turned out well, dressing your best to go out has always been the way of this city. One way and another, it was a show that did the city proud. – VIA VOGUE RUNWAY

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We’re going to talk about the chenel show which was really really interesting and there was a lot of controversy Brewing around the Chanel show reason being the Chanel show was held in Manchester and I kind of thought it was very interesting that Chanel would go to you know Manchester because

Manchester is very historical place a huge workingclass background also um and it’s just a place with a lot of very rich history and it’s it’s good to see a brand kind of highlight a different part of England that isn’t you know London because even every time I tell people oh

Like they hear my accent when I’m in America and they’re like oh my God you must be from London that’s not the only part of England like that’s not like the Assumption oh my God you have some form of English accent so you know you must be from

London it’s like that’s not the only place in England you know there’s man Chester there’s Birmingham there’s Liverpool and those are like the big cities there also smaller places like there’s big cities like Leeds there’s Bradford there’s Huddersfield there’s hall there’s Leicester you know there’s there’s a lot of places not everyone is

From London um so I kind of like that aspect where Chanel whether they meant to or not they’re kind of highlighting to a global audience a you know big city in England with a lot of history the reason why there was a lot of controversy is because Chanel is obviously a

Massive huge fashion brand and they are taking over the streets the workingclass streets of Manchester and so anytime you have people you know big corporations shutting down you know a whole strip and a whole part of Manchester people are going to ask questions and which is fair enough and I heard

Some people and I don’t know why people almost worship luxury Brands I find it so weird some people were literally you know arguing on Chanel’s behalf saying that oh my God it’s a good thing for Manchester Chanel are going to bring so much money to Manchester and I’m like

Are you guys joking one show one runaway show you think they’re going to flipping change the lives of Manchester natives by throwing one like runway show the kind of things or events that change the economic situation of a city are things like the Olympics things like the World

Cup where you know tourists come in in the hundreds of thousands and sometimes in the Millions for things like the World Cup things like the Olympics like loads like tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of fans all traveling all spending money across the city that is what brings

Money to a city not a flipping like pre full runway show flipping out like some people I don’t when it comes to luxury Brands it’s almost like they lose all sense of self and they will just defend these brands at at literally any at any turn it’s hilarious exactly Runway shows creating

Trickle down economics is it’s laughable it’s so funny so I found that take really funny and someone who I’m a really big fan of um a journalist called am Odell uh she has a substack that I’m subscribed to I would suggest that if you if you want to subscribe to her substack

Because she her writing is just amazing and she always writes about you know the most critical things and just to read kind of what she said about the situation of you know Chanel taking over Manchester I’ll just read what she said so she said that Manchester crit itics

Noted that it’s a different kind of City this isn’t the land where Kardashians roam free or where groceries are known for existing in a luxury format and she said as Jess Cartner moley writes in the guardian Chanel is pearls Manchester is all grit Chanel is the mecca of status

Handbags Manchester the city described by historian ajp Taylor as the only place in England which escapes our characteristics Vice of snobbery then Amy Odell went on to say that creative director vigin viard has settled into showing wearable stuff that sells rather than anything Cutting Edge

Which I 100% agree with um so it was unlikely for this show to suggest a big new trend or say reimagine the content of a recycling bin as fashion no the greatest impact of this show might be on the city of Manchester itself um once again like I say Amy Odell amazing

Writing but I’ll continue reading what she wrote um she said Manchester’s Cabinet member for culture didn’t say how much Chanel paid to Stage the show in the city but that it was great for Manchester and is great for our ambition to be a global destination he continued

The fact that Chanel have chosen to come to Manchester demonstrates that we’re doing something right hotels and restaurants were booked throughout the week for various events relating to the show now bear in mind that is what was said by The councelor Who is Manchester’s Cabinet member for culture

So this is someone that probably has a really high-paying job he’s not the workingclass person now let’s compare that to what the workingclass people said now let’s see let’s see because she said what the locals said so she said but not all locals were happy about it Thomas Street was closed for weeks

Leading up to the show with nearby streets closing closer to the event the the owner of a bar on an affected Street said that foot traffic fell leading up to the event because patrons assumed businesses were closed and didn’t know if the amount Chanel paid for closing

For the two days would cover it so when people are saying that oh Chanel coming is really good for the economics you literally have someone saying that Chanel gave me a certain amount of money for closing for two days and based on the lack of foot for that I’m seeing for

My business I don’t even think it’s enough money that would literally cover how much I would normally make if chenel wasn’t here which in other words means it’s not changing his reality at all it’s not doing anything for him it’s not benefiting him in any way and that was

The case that was what a lot of people um that have businesses on that street and around the area were saying about the impact of the Chanel show so once again that whole mentality of oh Chanel are going to that doing good things for the economy is just like laughable it’s so funny

It’s hilarious and just in general something about you know a luxury brand almost turning workingclass culture and Aesthetics and iconography into a caricature to be sold always to me just seems a bit weird it just seems a bit strange to me and she tried really hard I mean I was

Really a Vogue interview where vinia V vard was giving um some context as to why she picked Manchester and why she wanted to go to Manchester because she was drawing parallels to the football culture in Manchester I mean two of the biggest football clubs in the whole world Manchester with Manchester City

And Manchester United um and she was also saying that Manchester had a huge textile manufacturing industry in the 19th century which is definitely true and to read what uh Vin said in an interview with voges he said I like small towns not like London it’s too much like Paris my grandfather and Grand

Uncle managed the football team in Leon my grandfather and grandmother also worked in making Fabrics there so there is kind of that link between you know the nature of Manchester having a lot of football clubs that are really big and then also having a history of having a textile manufacturing industry

And then Vision having you know grandparents that married a football team in Leon and you know the fact that her grandmother worked making Fabrics there which I I get it there’s there’s kind of like a a link there I also thought it was kind of interesting that before the

Show happened because for these preall Collections and also Resort collections they’re always destination kind of Runway shows so they always try to create an experience for their clients so what Chanel did they tried to immerse their clients into Manchester culture and their way of doing that was

They invited a few Chanel guests to watch a game between Manchester United and Chelsea the recent game where Manchester United beat Chelsea 2-1 and they gave uh these people Chanel inspired Manchester United jerseys so there are Manchester United jerseys that said Chanel at the back and then the

Number was number five which was an Ode to the fragrance Chanel Number Five okay cool whatever um but if you’re trying to immerse people into the culture of Manchester there’s way more to Manchester than just like Manchester United but okay that was her way of doing that okay interesting and one of

The reasons she said that she also thought Manchester was an interesting place which I did actually think was quite interesting was the fact that Coco Chanel discovered her love for Tweed in Manchester and one of the first places she discovered Tweed was actually in Manchester and she took a lot of Tweed

Back to her back with her sorry to Paris and that’s why she found a love of Tweed and that’s why now we can’t get away from the Tweed with Chanel um so I did think that was a fair enough point I did think the rest of it they were heavy

Heavy heavy reaches and I do think it’s quite funny that Chanel have B basically reduced the culture in Manchester to going to a Manchester United football game I thought that was so funny I just thought that was hilarious or like when I think of Manchester yes I

Think about football but what about the music Manchester is known for having some of the most iconic bands coming from Manchester where’s the music where’s the culture why is it why are you just inviting these people to a Manchester United football game like there’s so much more to you know

Manchester than just a football game and even this piece right now this graffiti piece it says the sweater says it has a print of Manchester on it and there was also another scarf and I think a skirt a knitted skirt that had this sort of graffiti print Manchester thing and that

Was an inspiration to Manchester United and Manchester City literally is this a sweater that has Manchester printed on it and she’s like yeah I’m really immersing into the culture you know my pieces are really inspired by Manchester I mean I have a blue jumper that’s inspired by

Manchester City it says Manchester on it I have this red knitted skirt that says Manchester on it it’s inspired by Manchester United you know and that’s you know the inspiration of the Manchester I thought it was an amazing touch that um they had some Manchester celebrities and well-known people in

Manchester at the show so they had people like H who’s a really famous rapper from Manchester um who who attended the show they had Bugsy Malone who’s another um really famous uh rapper from Manchester and like personality now and does so many other things that was a good touch

But something that Amy Odell wrote that I thought was so amazing so Amy Odell wrote additionally Chanel had brand approved glamazons with Chester Roots like Liam Gallagher’s children lenon and Jean in attendance but the brand asked non- Neo babies living on Thomas Street to dim their lights and not to go on

Their balconies one resident told the Daily Mail that he began receiving letters about the show around three weeks earlier the show ended up being disrupted anyway not by the sight of average people on balconies but by a pro Palestine protest yards from the runway so that’s interesting it’s like it they have

Invited Manchester natives to come to the show but only if you’re famous and only if you know you’re nepo baby and only if you’re a rich person but if you’re the everyday Manchester person dim your lights and we don’t want to see your face on the balcony because you’re

Going to mess up our video filming and it’s we it’s not going to look nice and that’s why you have visin VR on one hand saying you know London is too Posh and it’s too City I want to go somewhere with real culture that’s why I want to

Go to Manchester so you have you’re saying that but then you’re telling the natives to literally dim their lights and not to stay over the balconies and honestly if you if you look at designers that actually care about like workingclass people or they’re trying to say something about workingclass culture

Look no further than designers like like Martin Rose for example one of my favorite Martin Rose collections is um I think it’s Martin Rose spring summer 19 that was held outside on a street in London and Martin Rose went out of her way to actually invite the

Locals in the area to attend the show and to be part of the show that is so different to Chanel being on the opposite end of doing what they’re doing and saying basically we don’t want to see your face like dim your lights that is the that is the literal difference

Between when a massive Corporation luxury brand tries to be authentic and talk about workingclass culture and it falls flat versus someone that actually comes from workingclass culture and so they don’t have an issue or think that workingclass people are going to spoil their Runway which is why someone like

Martin Rose when she holds a runway show she’ll literally invite the natives from Iran and be like yeah come to the show and you’ll literally see some random person from North London sat right beside Vogue editors because Martin Rose doesn’t care that is authentic that is what you call

Authentic not Chanel trying to be authentic and it’s just never going to be authentic because these none of these people are authentic that I kind of thought was interesting and I like the way that Amy Odell worded that but yeah I would definitely suggest you know subscribe to her substack because her

Newsletters are amazing and I always look forward to reading what she writes uh when it comes to just fashion news in general or like Runway shows and what happened should have sent them down the runway with a pint and shint pads for the money Vibe that’s so true though exactly

Chanel telling people to dim themselves for the fashion show so ironic and metaphorical exactly because visin literally said she was going to Manchester because it’s not the typical place to go to unlike London and Paris so if you’re going to go to um Manchester and you’re talking about you know the textile industry

Which was very working class and even the music scene the culture of Manchester is just very workingclass if you think of you know the music scene a lot of like these bands they come from workingclass backgrounds so to really have a discussion about that but then to

Tell those people to dim their lights is in Ane it almost makes anything you’re trying to say through that show irrelevant automatically and I don’t know how they don’t realize that like some of these brands are so out of touch they just don’t realize that at all to

Her she was probably like yeah we did an amazing thing we brought so much business to Manchester oh my God I love fashion so much it’s so entertaining it just makes me laugh all the time I just just don’t get the street it’s like a random street it

Could have been held anywhere literally yeah exactly exactly she just picked like a busy Street in Manchester and shut it down disrupted everyone’s lives there was also actually going back to Amy Odell Amy Odell she she wrote some amazing so I just remembered something else that she wrote um so I’m gonna

Bring up her newsletter again and read it um okay so what Amy Odell wrote is about this show she said there is something grotesquely capitalistic about luxury Brands taking over select streets in cities and bending local governments and residents to their will all for the sake of marketing displays you can kind

Of Imagine where this is all going one day a designer will decide that’re inspired by air traffic controllers and instead of building an airplane in a venue the way car Lagerfeld once did they’ll just dip into the company’s bottomless Bag of Money money and pay government officials to shut down the

Whole airport for 2 days and everyone who might need to use that airport would just have to sit there and take it which is absolutely hilarious which is absolutely hilarious like literally shut down the whole airport and then no one could literally travel and they’ll be like oh my God we

Brought so much money to the airlines oh my God like this is why I love Amy Odell she’s such a good writer such such a good writer like when I read it initially I was dying laughing so funny shut down the airport for two days and everyone else like f you everyone

Else we don’t care if you have to travel tomorrow for work lvie went to Hong Kong is this a new trend or money saving scheme no it’s not a TR Trend it’s uh so preall and Resort collections Are Always On Location not every time but most of the

Time they are so they always go to like different locations to do the shows so it’s nothing new it’s like that’s completely normal Chanel we love Manchester also Chanel shuts down all the major parts of their local economy oh my God this YouTube channel runs on your

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