Fashion week: Vive La Fête remembers the Chanel show at the Grand Palais
The German-born designer Karl Lagerfeld, a key player man in the revival of the house of Chanel, has always been a fan of biting little comments but also of a form of excess. In the 1990s, when the Parisian fashion shows were mainly held at the Carrousel du Louvre, he monopolized not one but the two largest venues, of course. One year, he even recreated the excitement and hubbub of the Cannes Film Festival, including the red carpet! Then, Chanel took up residence under the imposing glass roof of the Grand Palais in even more extravagant or even improbable settings. Recreating a gigantic library, a supermarket with a catalogue of (fake) products bearing the coat of arms of the house, a faeke but very realistic ski resort, an exotic laguna (including a dream sandy beach) or a forest of trees from the four corners of France, nothing was impossible for Lagerfeld!
On this first of October, after years of refurbishment, crowned by its role as an essential financial partner in the renovation of the building initially erected for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, Chanel returned to the halls of the Grand Palais to present the spring-summer 2025 collection. The main door through which guests pressed their way was renamed Entrée Gabrielle Chanel!
Playing live for Chanel
Let's take the opportunity to go back in time to 2002 with Els Pynoo, the singer of the Belgian band Vive La Fête who was also a model. "It was incredible, we played live for Chanel! The first time was in Paris at the Grand Palais, to which the brand is now returning. Then we went on a little world tour with the collection. We gave concerts accompanying him in Las Vegas, Berlin, Tokyo and also New York. It lasted about a year. Michel Gaubert, who chooses the music for Chanel events, had initially planned David Bowie songs. A week before the show, he came across our record Attaque Surprise. Karl Lagerfeld loved it and that's how we ended up in Paris for the flagship show of the season."
With the exception of a performance by Sébastien Tellier at the piano for a couture show, as far as I remember this is the one and only time that an electro rock band has performed for the French brand. “He enjoyed our show so much that he then photographed us for the American magazine Visionnaire.”
In the photo she presents here, Els appeared at the couture show of the Belgian designer Libertin Louison a few months before Chanel.
(AK/ML - Photo: Music Belgium Photos) Photo: Els Pynoo, singer of Vive La Fête, remembers her short career as a model, in this case for Libertin Louison at the Lokerse Feesten (Belgium) on August 7.