The fashion was impressive. As someone who has attended countless Chanel shows over the past twenty years, I am no stranger to seeing the brand’s devotees pull out their favourite or latest looks from the French fashion house to wear with pride when attending one of its presentations. But the level of creativity, styling ingenuity and sartorial daring of the guests attending the Chanel Replica Cruise show in Hong Kong was on a whole other level. 

Chanel has its ‘spot from a mile away’ codes - the tweeds, the pearls, the camelia, the quilting - the trick is how to personalise those beloved touchpoints, In Hong Kong the 2,000 guests at the show came to slay. Mixing current season Chanel with vintage, even archival-worthy, pieces with the fearless aplomb of those who know exactly who they are and what they love. And boy do the love Chanel. 

Thankfully they were in luck because the Cruise 2025 collection, presented at the top of a 197-foot escalator on the seventh and eighth floors of the Hong Kong Design Institute, was filled with pieces that could seamlessly be worked into an existing wardrobe of Chanel staples. Inspired by oceanside living the show featured fluid separates covered in whimsical sea creature motifs, bouncy openwork sweaters in shades like sunshine yellow, scuba-inspired hoodies, and short and sweet tweeds in colourful graphic patterns. And as always the on-theme Chanel accessories will also be hard to resist. A pearl embellished pendant in the shape of a can of sardines and earrings in the form of cute crabs were not on my bingo card for the year, but now live rent-free in my mind.

But I wasn’t the only longstanding Chanel guest in attendance who was impressed by both the local patrons and the collection. Oscar-winning actress Penélope Cruz who was visiting Hong Kong for the first time, was also blown away by the crowd. But she understands their devotion. “When I can’t attend a Chanel show in person I always go online right away to look at the video of the show and analyse all of the photos of the outfits,” she confesses after the show. “I really enjoy exploring the collections each season and I feel so honoured that I get to work with Chanel and wear all these beautiful pieces that they create.”

This Cruise collection – the last helmed by Virginie Viard before her departure from the house – in particular, struck a chord with Cruz. She was drawn to the artisan beauty of the many crocheted pieces in the show that came woven with little seaside charms like shells or starfish. “This collection was very Chanel, very elegant and modern,” affirms the actress who has been an ambassador for the brand since 2018. “But what I really loved is that it reminded me of things that my grandmother taught me how to do when I was a little girl. So the crochet dresses, for example, really stood out to me. My grandmother taught me how to sew, knit and crochet. Also, those pieces have a very Spanish feeling to them, so I naturally connected to them.”

As always with a destination Chanel show the house made sure to create a layered experience that is both educational for visitors and for locals fascinated by the house and its vast heritage. For the former, there were walking tasting tours of the city with the renowned chef Vicky Cheng that finished off with an unforgettable lunch in his inspiring Vea restaurant. As well as hands-on mahjong-making classes with one of the few remaining master sculptors who still engraves each tile’s symbols by hand. 

For the latter, on the morning of the show at the Hong Kong Design Institute over 500 fashion and design students from across Hong Kong attended The Chanel Talk with Bruno Pavlovsky, president of Chanel Fashion, Cruz, director Audrey Diwan, model Angela Yuen and others, who discussed the importance of creativity and the transmission of ideas. 

A message echoed in an accompanying on-site exhibition called Imagine an Elsewhere. Supported by Chanel, it features 16 collective works by 35 Hong Kong Design Institute students specialising in Fashion and Image Design, Interior and Product Design, Architecture, Communication Design, and Digital Media. And finally, Radio Chanel was also streaming live before the show interviewing a variety of creatives, including  DJ Wong Chi-Chung, actor Chow Yun-Fat, chef Archan Chan, and artist Chan Oi-Ying,  for a cross-pollination discussion about the intersection of art and fashion. 

Another key focus of the three-day activation put on by Chanel was cinema. The house tapped the award-winning French director Diwan to create a short film as an ode to the city and its long cinematic history. Called Modern Flirt, the movie stars  Hong Kong actor Angela Yuen and French actor Benjamin Voisin. It tells a story about strangers crossing paths in bustling Hong Kong and clearly takes inspiration from the iconic Hong Kong-based film In The Mood For Love by Wong Kar-wai. Chanel also put on a Cinema Talk event at the city’s famed Shaw Studios. Titled Hong Kong Frames, the three-panel series of talks saw speakers like director and screenwriter Norris Wong and production designer and film editor William Chang Suk-ping discuss the art of storytelling and examine what makes Hong Kong cinema so unique.

Chanel’s thoughtful 360-degree approach to the production of this Replica Cruise show is only the latest example of why, for decades, the brand has held such a special place in the hearts of those who appreciate a commitment to artistry. “I have been a fan of Chanel since I was a little girl,” affirms Cruz when discussing when she first discovered the house. “I used to do research on Gabrielle Chanel and her designs, and I remember how revolutionary Karl was when he started at the house, I was very little at the time but I remember being blown away by his talent and and even everything that Verginie has done has been amazing.” 

From the packed rooms at The Chanel Talk and the Hong Kong Frames series to the impressive outfits crafted with care by guests attending the Replica Cruise show, the passion for Chanel runs deep in Hong Kong. Everyone wants to be, even in some small way, a part of the world that Chanel has created. It's a sentiment that Cruz is only too familiar with. 

“Chanel continues to inspire women because it is a brand that has great values, is filled with so many talented people and it really honours its roots and history,” she says. “Some people have been working at Chanel for 30 or 40 years. It’s like a family. And I see how well Chanel treats and values the people who work there. This kind of respect that I see at Chanel is really important to me. And the older I get, the more important it is. Family is always important.”

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