‘A breath of fresh air’: Chanel’s cruise 2024-25 show in Marseille, from white lace dresses to swimwear and sportswear – the customer-friendly collection reflected the seaside vibes of the Mediterranean city

May 3 , 2024

The Chanel cruise 2024-25 show took place at the Cité Radieuse (Radiant City), a Unesco world heritage site in Marseille, France, on May 2. Photo: Chanel

Models strutted around the brutalist Unesco World Heritage site Cité Radieuse, wearing customer-friendly pieces like Chanel’s signature tweed jackets paired with hoodies and shorts

Stranger Things actress Sadie Sink, Marion Cotillard and Hong Kong star Angela Yuen were at the show; the luxury fashion maison also collaborated with the Ballet National de Marseille on a short video

With its gritty vibe and raw beauty, Marseille couldn’t be more different from fashionable and chic Paris, or pretty neighbours such as Cannes and Saint-Tropez. The port city on the Mediterranean coast of France was in the spotlight this week as the location of Chanel’s cruise 2024-25 show, which took place on a slightly chilly, wet and windy Thursday at the Cité Radieuse (Radiant City), a Unesco World Heritage site.

The Chanel cruise 2024-25 show embraced the grittiness of the Mediterranean city of Marseille. Photo: AP

Designed by Le Corbusier, the celebrated French modernist architect, and built between 1947 and 1952, the housing complex pioneered the idea of a vertical town to provide comfortable accommodation to its residents, with features such as a nursery school, a playground and a plenty of green space.

“For the French, Marseille is the capital of the Mediterranean,” said Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion at Chanel, in an interview before the show. “It’s the second biggest city [in France] and it’s so different from Paris – probably because of the sea, but also because of so many communities and cultures.

“The reason we came here is that we’re always trying to find what’s most appropriate for the brand and not just the unexpected, because it’s not just about that. There’s not direct link between Marseille and Mademoiselle Chanel. Marseille is all about this mix of people and communities and is very urban. Marseille is a city of paradoxes and a very vibrant city.”

Models present creations by Chanel on the roof of the Cité Radieuse building designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, in Marseille, France. Photo: AFP

As in previous destination shows – such as a memorable one held in Dakar, Senegal, in 2022 – Chanel engaged the local art community. In Marseille, the brand opened a temporary outpost of La Galerie du 19M within Mucem (Museum of Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean). La Galerie du 19M, which has a permanent location in Paris, showcases the works of artists who collaborate with Chanel’s Métiers d’Art – workshops such as embroiderer Maison Lesage and feather maker Maison Lemarié – to create pieces that often incorporate upcycled materials.

For the Marseille exhibition, Chanel worked with a series of creators hailing from countries such as Venezuela and Ivory Coast, some of them based in the French city.

A white dress paired with flip-flops at the Chanel cruise 2024-25 show in Marseille, France. Photo: AP

A long-time supporter of dance, Chanel also collaborated with the Ballet National de Marseille – and dancer and friend of the house, Marion Barbeau – for a short video directed by Ladj Ly filmed at city landmarks such as the Vieux Port and the Cité Radieuse.

The collection reflected the seaside vibe of Marseille with fish, nets and shell motifs drawn in a childlike pattern; prim-and-proper white lace dresses; and plenty of swimwear. The looks were worn with foam and terry-cloth platform flip-flops or patent leather men’s slippers.