Talking Tweed: CHANEL’s Iconic Textile Shines at 2022 Fall/Winter Show

Timeless, sophisticated, and infinitely versatile, tweed has been synonymous with CHANEL ever since Gabrielle herself immortalized the fabric in the 1920s. CHANEL’s Fall/Winter 2022 show brings the fabric into the spotlight with a collection dedicated entirely to tweed as the central theme. 

Where else would one go to celebrate tweed than to Scotland, the place that the River Tweed has given the fabric its iconic name? It is there that photographer team Inez and Vinoodh were commissioned to shoot the show’s teaser, snapping a succession of panoramic landscapes of the Scottish moors and model Vivienne Rohner dancing across the fog-shrouded countryside.

“Devoting the entire collection to tweed is a tribute,” says CHANEL’s Creative Director Virginie Viard. “We followed the footsteps of Gabrielle Chanel along the River Tweed, to imagine tweeds in the colours of this landscape.”

The shades of the misty hillsides and wildflower-studded fields are reflected in the collection’s palette: a pink tweed coat mottled with splashes of blue and purple, or a burgundy suit delicately shimmered with gold evoking the autumnal foliage. They are also a nod to Gabrielle Chanel’s love of nature and foraging as she strolled through the Scottish countryside, gathering ferns and bouquets of flowers in her chosen tones to inspire the local artisans. 

Presented at the Grand Palais Éphémère, furnished almost entirely in tweed, the runway showed jackets in psychedelic palettes, referencing the brightly coloured covers of 1960s British music records, paired with matching tweed bags. 

Colourful tights peeked out from under dress hemlines; while mod miniskirts were worn with long socks and patent pumps, or over-the-knee boots. Meanwhile, velvet trousers and subtly masculine cuts hinted at Gabrielle’s penchant for borrowing her own wardrobe from the world of menswear—notably, the tweed jackets of the Duke of Westminster.

“There’s nothing sexier than wearing the clothes of the person you love,” Viard remarks. “And it’s CHANEL that renders the tweed feminine.” Layers of stacked necklaces and chain belts lent textural contrast and an edgy finish. 

“I love working with [tweed] so much,” comments Viard on the fabric’s eternal presence as one of the House’s unchanging codes; “I couldn’t live without it at CHANEL.”