PARIS — Chanel could also be getting ready to a brand new period, with the extremely anticipated debut of recent artistic director Matthieu Blazy early subsequent week, but it surely has recommitted to the classical arts with its help of the Paris Opera Ballet.
“It was so poetic – the feelings, the set, the costumes, all the pieces felt so exact and so wealthy, and I felt the dancers had been very beneficiant in the direction of us,” mentioned French actress and longtime Chanel home ambassador Anamaria Vartolomei. “The story was stunning, and the primary half was like a Disney film.”
The efficiency of the traditional Romantic-era ballet “Gisele,” starring Germain Louvet and Sae Eun Park, enchanted company, as did the plush flowers and dream-like setting of the gala dinner and dance contained in the Palais Garnier. It additionally opened with the debut efficiency of the fashionable piece “Requiem for a Rose,” by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
The “Mickey 17” actress has been sporting a gamine minimize, after chopping her lengthy locks for an upcoming function. Now she’s within the interval the place she is making an attempt to keep away from a ‘70s fashion shag minimize, however nonetheless having enjoyable with the coiffure. She is going to attend Blazy’s debut for the French style home on the Grand Palais on Oct. 6.
Vartolomei has labored with the home since she was 12 years outdated, first with Karl Lagerfeld after which with Virginie Viard. “It’s an enormous, large change for the home,” she mentioned of Blazy’s debut. “I’m very interested by what’s in his thoughts. As a result of he by no means provides interviews. And I’m curious to know, what are his references and inspirations? The place does he go? What does he dig into? He’s a really mysterious particular person, so I’m excited to lastly see how he imagines the Chanel girl.”
Ashley Graham and Harris Reed
Francois Goize / Courtesy of Paris Opera Ballet Fundraiser Gala
Regardless of being on the cusp of style week, the group additionally drew the town’s creatives, together with Alain Paul, who will present on Wednesday morning; Nina Ricci’s Harris Reed, who will present Friday night, and curator Sarah Andelman, who’s behind each the Zara fiftieth anniversary exhibit and the Virgil Abloh exhibit on the Grand Palais.
Ashley Graham, who was named the face of Nina Ricci’s Venus perfume in August, was invited by Reed to benefit from the night.
“That is my first Parisian ballet, and I used to be blown away,” she mentioned. She not too long ago wrapped her Broadway run as Roxie Coronary heart in “Chicago.” Graham should miss the Nina Ricci present, nevertheless, as she has a product launch this week in New York, which she stored beneath wraps on Saturday.
The gala occasion was additionally supported by sponsor Rolex, and the night raised 1.5 million euros to help the French cultural establishment.
Paris Étoile dancer Guillaume Diop
Francois Goize / Courtesy of Paris Opera Ballet Fundraiser Gala
“We come collectively to reopen the dance areas at a time when they’re typically fragile. It’s worthwhile to return collectively round a second like this. Dance, like music, transcends variations — it brings us collectively and reminds us that magnificence, collective effort, and sharing can nonetheless uplift us,” mentioned Opera director common Alexander Neef, taking the stage.
The night opened with the normal Défilé du Ballet, bringing over 300 dancers — together with the Étoile star dancers, the Corps de Ballet, and college students of the École de Danse — parading onstage.
With this eleventh version, Chanel continued its partnership with the gala, which started in 2018. Along with the gala, Chanel has dedicated to supporting the Opera’s Junior Ballet and the restoration of its 4 venues, in addition to created customized costumes for the younger dancers with detailing by famend ateliers Lesage and Lemarié.
Étoile dancers additionally appeared in customized tutus and tiaras initially designed in 2021, that includes the home’s signature white satin camellias. The floral contact struck Vartolomei.
“Whenever you see the costumes and the main points, such because the camellia, it’s such a Chanel contact, but it surely means a lot,” she added.
“All the things is taken to the acute level of involvement. To me, that is what actually magnificence is, is that you’ve got the intelligence to know and do it in a really beneficiant means – simply doing it for the great thing about it.”
Germain Louvet, Hugo Marchand, Marc Moreau
Francois Goize / Courtesy
Different company –i ncluding Belgian pop star Angèle, Amira Casar, Alton Mason and Charlotte Casiraghi – gathered within the Grand Lobby for a seated dinner catered by cooks Antoine Villard, Hanz Gueco, and Zélikha Dinga, paired with Taittinger Champagne.
Amira Casar
Virgile / Courtesy
