Chanel at Grand Palais — CHANEL Fall/Winter 2019/20 Show (2019)

The Grand Palais in Paris hosted CHANEL's Fall/Winter 2019/20 ready-to-wear show, staged inside a built Alpine village.

The venue

The Grand Palais is a historic exhibition hall on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Its central nave sits beneath a vast iron-and-glass barrel vault, with stone and steel structural bays along the sides. The hall is normally used for art fairs, large exhibitions and cultural events, and its open floor allows full-scale sets to be constructed indoors.

How the space was used

For the show the nave was rebuilt as a snow-covered Alpine village: chalets with pitched roofs, painted mountain ranges and ski equipment arranged along a winding route. Models walked through the village rather than along a straight runway, with guests seated on either side. The space held a moment of silence for Karl Lagerfeld before the closing track.

Why it works here

The Grand Palais suits this kind of activation because its uninterrupted nave and high glazed roof allow a complete environment to be constructed indoors, in central Paris, while daylight and the building's own architecture remain visible above the set.