Editor and writer for Vogue Hamish Bowles wrote in a recent article “That idea of liberation translated into a collection of unforced, woman-friendly pieces that embraced the house codes at the same time that they reinforced Viard’s own pragmatic instincts for comfortable, insouciant, no-nonsense glamour,” about Chanel’s most recent ready-to-wear collection. This quote, in a nutshell, describes the vision behind the collection. The idea was centered around staying true to the house’s vision as a whole, while simultaneously paving a new way for the future of womenswear, and changing the way womenswear defines femininity and sexuality.

Paring harder shaped bomber jackets over delicate lace tops or opened wide-legged trousers to show off a tall riding boot underneath are only some of the ways the design and styling team played with hard and soft textures that can interchangeably be mixed and matched with other pieces within the collection. A popular trend moving forward with the fashion of ready-to-wear is creating separates within a collection that could be purchased to create a “capsule” wardrobe. With huge percentages of people in recent years buying luxury consignment and thrifted designer goods, allowing the pieces to be worn more than once and styled in a variety of ways adds to the selling point and makes buying designer brands new more appealing to buyers.

Pushing the hard and soft trend, we saw many corset-shaped tops pairs and suited skirt with twists, such as a slit. Adding cuts to straight-shaped garments to show ever-so-slightly show off the body while keeping true to Chanel’s famous fabrics was a great push for effortless glamour. It also showed viewers that dressing well and feeling powerful doesn't have to mean appearing overly sexy. The unique styling and pairings showed wearers that they can receive attention from their outfits in a variety of ways, and don’t always have to be uncomfortable, wearing something tight, or showing skin while doing it.

A bit different for Chanel, the collection started out with a variety of dark-colored pieces, mostly made of black. It was a unique contrast to pair with the different sections throughout the runway show alongside pastels, and deeper reds. Pops of color were seen in jewelry and bags, and occasionally on the design of a knitter garment like a sweater.

The urge to push the idea of women empowerment without putting the ongoing message in the viewers face was executed perfectly within the performance of the models and runway crew. Throughout the show, we saw a change-up of models walking alone as well as alongside others in pairs of two or three. This pagination pushed the idea of women supporting other women, and that standing together can be just as powerful as standing alone can be. Seeing groups of beautiful women wearing clothes that are effortlessly feminine but also glamorous sets the example of how women should communicate with each other on a day-to-day basis. Large fashion houses using their platforms to show mass audiences messages like this is just another way to bring the brand’s larger message out. This can also reveal a great deal about the brand’s ethos, and what messages they stand for behind their clothing. To this day, it remains one of the many reasons why Chanel will remain a top trend-setter amongst the other couture houses that stand beside them.