Chanel Opens Freestanding Boutique in Washington, D.C.

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Chanel will unveil an 8,000-square-foot boutique today at CityCenterDC in Washington, D.C.

The boutique features the complete Chanel universe, including ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes and costume jewelry. It also houses a selection of watches and fine jewelry, as well as fragrance and beauty.

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Chanel previously had a boutique in Washington, D.C. from 1990 to 2004 at the Willard Hotel. The new store represents Chanel’s first new freestanding fashion boutique location in the U.S. network since the opening of its Robertston Blvd. location in Los Angeles in May 2008.

John Galantic, president and chief operating officer of Chanel, Inc., was unavailable for comment on the new store and sales expectations.

The new single-story shop was conceived by Peter Marino, a longtime Chanel collaborator. Graphic contrasts are evident throughout the store, starting with a sleek glass and ceramic tiled pleated facade of Neoparies, which evoke a bold and inviting sense of luxury. Inside, the space consists of a series of rooms with an ambiance that draws on Mademoiselle Chanel’s legendary Paris apartment on rue Cambon.

The boutique was designed to have a luxurious residential feel, showcasing a palette of white, beige and black enhanced by hand-applied finishes as well as a collection of contemporary art and antique furniture. Each work of art throughout the boutique was chosen to reflect Mademoiselle Chanel’s legacy as a passionate patron of the arts, as well as Marino’s signature work for the House.

Upon entering the boutique, two airy rooms with beige stone floors are situated behind the vestibule and showcase handbags and accessories, including the seasonal reinterpretations of the iconic 2.55 and 11.12 handbags. There are two additional rooms, one dedicated to fragrance, beauty and eyewear and the other a watch and fine jewelry salon, displaying a curated selection of fine jewelry from the Coco Crush, Camelia and Comete collections, alongside the newest interpretations of the iconic J12 watch.

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Two ready-to-wear salons showcase the range of artistic director Virginie Viard’s collections for the first time in Washington. Custom upholsteries designed in France and the U.S. in vibrant tones of fuchsia, red and blue are juxtaposed against the beige, gold, white and black ceramic finishes.

In the shoe salon, a Curtis Jere gold mirror hangs above a custom designed tweed sofa by Peter Marino, creating a backdrop that highlights the latest shoe collections. Among the selection are black leather high heel equestrian boots, gold sequined two-tone Mary Janes and jewel toned velvet ballet flats from the Metiers d’Art collection.

The boutique highlights a selection of work hand-selected by Marino, including three hand-torn paper pieces by Fernando Daza, a series of four Coco Chanel prints by Louis Ellis and two Black Belt by Peter Marino handblown glass vases.

The boutique carries the 2021/2022 Metiers d’Art Ready-to-Wear Collection designed by Viard. The collection, which is created annually to showcase the artistry and craftsmanship of the Metiers d’Art houses, is inspired by Château de Chenonceau, “Le Château des Dames,” and the legendary women who resided in the castle from Catherine de Medici to Diane de Poitiers. The black and white checkered motif of the chateau floor appears on sequined mini-skirts, as well as a long skirt in a fringed geometric tweed patchwork that is worn with a black and white jacquard sweater.

The store also has tweed capes in warm hues reminiscent of the famous tapestries that line the walls of the castle. Floral motifs on knit sweater and dresses and floral embroideries on the lapels of jackets are inspired by the castle’s renowned gardens. Rounding out the offerings are textural and luxe accessories, such as a black velvet mini 2.55 handbag, embroidered with pearls and Strass; a checkerboard black and white lambskin 11.12, and a velvet and lambskin large shopper.

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In the competitive world of fashion auctions, luck plays as much of a role as strategy. In February, at an auction of Art Deco designer pieces, one rare 1922 Chanel cape – red silk velvet and georgette, with marabou feathers – caught the eye of the curators at the Paris Galliera, which was midway through staging an exhibition on the iconic designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel.

The cape sold for 79,300 euro ($125,737), and, for that moment at least, the Galliera, France’s pre-eminent fashion museum, watched it slip away. What Miren Arzalluz, curator of Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto, didn’t know was that it was bought by an Australian collector, Krystyna Campbell-Pretty, as a gift for the National Gallery of Victoria, and will feature in the exhibition when it opens in Melbourne in December.

Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. Credit:André Kertész/NGV

Arzalluz says the exhibition celebrates the “notion of being comfortable in one’s clothes”, which Chanel pioneered from her debut, first as a milliner, in 1910 until her death in 1971. “This [being comfortable] was the privilege of men and men’s fashion until Chanel arrived in the 1910s,” Arzalluz says via Zoom from Paris.

The exhibition features many hallmarks of the Chanel brand, including the 2.55 quilted bag, the little black dress, the tweed suit and the bottle for No. 5, the perfume that is celebrating its 100th anniversary and which Marilyn Monroe once quipped was the only thing she wore to bed.

New York & Company to Add Men’s Wear

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New York & Company is taking the plunge into men’s wear.

The women’s specialty store retailer, which was acquired by The Saadia Group in fall 2020 and is now exclusively digital, will today introduce its first collection of men’s wear.

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