One night in Manchester changed the temperature of fashion. On 7 December 2023, the Chanel Métiers d’Art show unfolded in the Northern Quarter, turning real streets into a runway and placing artisanal craft at the heart of a city built on music and industry.
This is not a regular collection. Launched in 2002 by Karl Lagerfeld, Métiers d’Art celebrates the specialist houses that safeguard Chanel codes, from embroidery to feathers. The format travels and it tells a story in one evening. That December date in Manchester delivered the latest chapter, and readers hunting for the why and how land exactly where the answers begin.
Chanel Métiers d’Art explained : the runway that spotlights artisans
Métiers d’Art exists to shine a light on the maisons that make the impossible by hand. Think Lesage for embroidery, Montex for embellishment, Lemarié for feathers and flowers, Massaro for shoes, Goossens for metalwork. Under the Paraffection umbrella, these ateliers transmit savoir faire that cannot be automated.
Since 2021, many of these houses share a home at Le19M in Paris. The building, inaugurated with the Métiers d’Art 2021 2022 show on 7 December 2021, serves as a living campus for craft and innovation. It anchors a tradition that returns each early December with a new city and a new lens on technique.
Manchester 2023 2024 : what happened on 7 December 2023
Creative director Virginie Viard placed tweed back on its urban turf. The Northern Quarter’s brick textures framed jackets trimmed with luminous piping, mini skirts cut with swing, and coats embelished with discreet sparkle that caught the rain and neon. The mood felt British without pastiche, a nod to record shops and worker pride.
Context matters. Chanel had staged previous Métiers d’Art editions in Dakar on 6 December 2022 and at Le19M in Paris the year before, so the Manchester step continued a pace of one show each December. The program stayed crisp. Models walked at street level. The soundtrack leaned into local spirit. Craft details did the talking up close.
From Dakar to Le19M : a quick map of recent Métiers d’Art stops
Each Métiers d’Art show carries a precise date and place, creating a timeline of craft in motion. A few coordinates help decode the journey.
- Manchester 2023 2024 : Northern Quarter, 7 December 2023
- Dakar 2022 2023 : former Palais de Justice, 6 December 2022
- Paris 2021 2022 : Le19M, 7 December 2021
- Château de Chenonceau 2020 2021 : Loire Valley, 1 December 2020
- New York 2018 2019 : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 4 December 2018
- Hamburg 2017 2018 : Elbphilharmonie, 6 December 2017
- Rome 2015 2016 : Cinecittà, 1 December 2015
- Salzburg 2014 2015 : 2 December 2014
- Dallas 2013 2014 : Fair Park, 10 December 2013
- Edinburgh 2012 2013 : Linlithgow Palace, 4 December 2012
This cadence built a ritual. Early December becomes craft season, with one city chosen to echo the métiers. That is why the Manchester setting resonated. Textile mills, music scenes, independent shops. The collection mirrored those textures while holding onto Chanel’s codes.
How to watch and read a Métiers d’Art show today
Start with the close ups. Métiers d’Art is designed for proximity. Embroidery maps a jacket panel like a relief. Feather work softens a shoulder line. Metal trims light up a button and change the tempo of a whole look.
Then trace the anchors. Tweed signals continuity. Camellias and pearls bridge eras. In Manchester, those signatures moved through sharper miniskirts and practical coats that seemed built for real pavement rather than a sealed runway. The craft remained front and center, simply translated into daily life.
Replay access helps. Chanel typically publishes full videos and lookbooks on its website and official YouTube channel within hours of the show. That is where the handiwork reads with clarity, frame by frame, and where the styling choices become tangible references for a winter wardrobe.
One last piece makes the puzzle whole. Métiers d’Art is less about novelty than about keeping skills alive. The annual December date, the cities and the maisons align to support techniques that might otherwise fade. Watch with that lens and the story lands with more weight, from Manchester back to Le19M and onward to the next chapter.