Chanel’s 2024-25 cruise show lands in Hong Kong: the luxury brand restaged its Marseille, France event at the Asian city’s striking Design Institute, with Penélope Cruz and Whitney Peak in attendance

Nov 5 , 2024

Gossip Girl star Whitney Peak (left) and Hong Kong actress Angela Yuen (right) at Chanel’s 2024-25 cruise show in Hong Kong. Photos: Jocelyn Tam

Chanel’s Bruno Pavlovsky reiterated the brand’s commitment to its loyal client base – a short starring Angela Yuen and Benjamin Voisin was also created for the show

Chanel landed in Hong Kong today for the long-awaited restaging of its cruise 2024-2025 show, which first took place in the French city of Marseille back in May.

Held at the Hong Kong Design Institute – a striking building designed by French firm Coldefy and located in the former industrial area of Tseung Kwan O – the show attracted celebrities such as Spanish actress Penélope Cruz and American actress Whitney Peak, who are also both ambassadors for the brand.

Caroline de Maigret at the Chanel cruise 2024-2025 show in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong setting couldn’t be more different from the Marseille iteration of the show, which was at the Cité Radieuse (Radiant City), a housing complex designed by legendary architect Le Corbusier and built between 1947 and 1952.

While the collection didn’t feature any looks especially created for the Hong Kong event, its restaging in the Asian city gave it a fresh spin and demonstrated how versatile and timeless the Chanel aesthetic is.

Chanel’s president of fashion, Bruno Pavlovsky, called the event a “three-day orchestration” specifically created for Hong Kong. “We didn’t want to be in one of the ‘usual suspect’ locations in Hong Kong,” he said before the show. “It’s about the balance between the creativity of Chanel and the transmission of our values here at the Hong Kong Design Institute.”

The striking Hong Kong Design Institute building, designed by French firm Coldefy

Chanel engaged the local community through a series of activations that are “just the beginning” of a long-term partnership with the institute, Pavlovsky added, from panel talks with luminaries such as Cruz to a student exhibition at the institute.

For the show, the house also produced a short directed by Audrey Diwan, starring Hong Kong actress Angela Yuen and French actor Benjamin Voisin. Titled Modern Flirt, the video depicted the meeting of two strangers in Hong Kong at night.

Tweed suits in pastel hues such as green, yellow and pink – a Chanel staple – were part of the line-up. But the range also reflected the seaside vibes of Marseille and Hong Kong, with fish and shell motifs drawn in a childlike pattern, prim-and-proper white lace dresses, and plenty of swimwear.