Chanel Fall 2023 Couture Collection

Couture on the quai, en plein air. It was easy to get swept up in the everyday-idyllic atmosphere of Virginie Viard’s massed stroll of Parisiennes along the Seine. There they were, walking nonchalantly in their block-heeled Mary Janes, just as if wearing haute couture to walk the dog or pick up some flowers at the market were most the most normal thing in the world.

Viard’s approach is Chanel as lifestyle. Sans high-flown concepts, jokes, or theatrical gimmicks, her focus is on capturing the essence of Frenchness. “Sophistication and simplicity, permanence and beauty” were phrases in her press release. She went about portraying it down to faithfully reflecting the inimitable French beauty standard: perfect-not-perfect, apparently unstyled hair and au naturel makeup.

The parade was led by Caroline de Maigret, best-selling author of “How to be Parisian Wherever You Are,” owning chic in her long, double-breasted navy tweed coat, hands trust in her pockets. The daywear—narrow coats, the red tweed Principal boy jacket worn by the dog-walker, the knee-length suits and slightly Mod trouser suits—toggled somewhere between the ’80s and the ’60s.

Among them was a navy flecked tweed coat dress which stood out because of its edging of pale chiffon ruffles—because what you’re also craving to see at Chanel haute couture is the wonder of its savoir-faire. These techniques need to be seen close up, and explained in detail to understand the skills, the hours and the arcane refinements of the materials. At a distance, some of it did shine out across the quai: the gilded, patinated surface of a skirt suit, the 3D chiffon flowers in a dress glimpsed inside a plain coat, more flowers embroidered in multicolored sequins on the eveningwear. In the finale, a pale café-au-lait chiffon party dress was lightly whipped into ruffles at the neck and finished with a black bow—a youthful confection that could only come from the Chanel’s atelier flou.