Chanel in Senegal: Fashioning links with Africa
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Loading... - Moustapha Faye
- 24 Apr 2023
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On the runway: Chanel’s show in the Senegalese capital Dakar, its first in Africa, was a three-day event which came after Dakar Fashion Week. It shone a spotlight on Senegal’s strong fashion identity.
Just over two months ago, Chanel staged its first Métiers d’art runway show on the African continent in the heart of Dakar, Senegal. Chanel’s signature tweed, beads and camellias mingled with the city’s cultural and sonic richness at the Ancien Palais de Justice.
When the fashion world first heard that Chanel was set to showcase in Dakar, many were sceptical about the fashion house’s intentions and the potential for virtue signalling. The cards were stacked against the event — the optics of a French brand staging a luxury fashion show in a sub-Saharan African country, which was under colonial French rule until the 1960s, seemed precarious.
Chanel does not have a major presence in Africa, either. The closest things to a boutique on the continent are Chanel cosmetic counters, the tiny standalone makeup and fragrance stores in South Africa and the bottles of Chanel No. 5 dotting duty-free shelves in airports. There are few documented ties between Chanel and Senegal. In a recent interview, president of fashion at Chanel Bruno Pavlovsky could not say whether Coco Chanel herself ever dreamed of coming to Dakar.
But, the brand said: “The Dakar Collection is the result of meetings over the past three years between (Chanel designer) Virginie Viard and choreographers, directors, musicians and writers, all together with friends of the house who are the plural inspiration behind this journey.”
Instead of parading lace dresses and tweed suits down a runway for a few hours, Chanel in Dakar was a three-day festival that followed the 20th Dakar Fashion Week, giving space to Senegal’s existing fashion identity, which is tied to craftsmanship. Chanel consulted with the appropriate people, spotlighted Senegalese artistic talent and brought in folk from across Africa, including South African DJ and music producer DBN Gogo. “We’ve been thinking about it for three years. I wanted it to happen gently, over several days of deep, respectful dialoguing,” said Viard, creative director of the project. Read More…
