Chanel marks 110 years with style - and stars - by supersizing its couture salon in a palace
On Tuesday, as the house marked 110 years of its haute couture — a century and more of Coco Chanel's revolution in how women dress — it blew up its atelier as a giant set inside the freshly restored Grand Palais, turning intimacy into spectacle for a nature-drenched show at
Paris Couture Week
.
Chanel, whose founder banished corsets and reimagined luxury as liberation, showed just how far that legacy stretches — from the tiny salons of 1915 to its modern colossus.
It was a flex only a handful of luxury giants could pull off — and perhaps, as one front-row guest suggested, a dazzling distraction as the fashion world counts down to the debut of Chanel's
new designer Matthieu Blazy
.
Penélope Cruz, Keira Knightley, Naomi Campbell, Kirsten Dunst and the house's tightest VIP circle scaled gilded steps, sweating past marble and gold, to enter the reconstructed atelier. The set by Willo Perron was classic Chanel — intimate yet monumental, Old World yet futuristic.
'It just felt special,' Campbell said, 'like stepping into a memory and something completely new. There's warmth, intimacy, nostalgia. Chanel can recreate anything, and it works.'
Chanel goes country
More drama unfolded on the runway. This was couture as nature fantasy, filtered through the Chanel prism. Menswear tailoring added swing to sculpted jackets and coatdresses, while mohair suits in deep greens and plums channeled autumn's hush. Bouclé tweeds mimicked sheepskin; feathers and tweed created illusionary faux fur.
Gold-sprayed wheat ears — the house symbol of abundance — were everywhere: stitched into flounces, embroidered on necklines, set on every guest's seat. The theme may have been country, but make no mistake: This was as close as Chanel gets to 'roughing it.'
Technique dazzled at every turn: jewel-buttons, embroidered florals and a finale of lamé so luminous it mimicked sunlight on harvest fields. The studio team, holding the fort after Virginie Viard's abrupt and unceremonious exit last year, anchored the show in classic codes but played with wit and lightness.
That obsessive handwork matters — not just for tradition, but for business. Chanel is fashion's juggernaut: Privately held, the brand reported $18.7 billion in revenue for 2024, cementing its status as one of the world's most powerful luxury houses. Couture may be the crown, but its influence drives global sales in fragrance, bags and jewelry, making it the envy of rivals.
New era for the luxury giant
Change is always looming at Chanel. For more than 30 years, Karl Lagerfeld transformed the brand from Parisian legend to pop phenomenon, staging ever-grander spectacles at the Grand Palais.
After his death in 2019
, Viard, his longtime deputy, guided Chanel into a softer, more discreet era.
Now the industry is holding its breath for Blazy, a Belgian talent with stints at Margiela, Celine and most recently Bottega Veneta, where he won fans for his blend of innovation and reverence for craft.
Campbell said of Blazy, whom she knows personally: 'He's focused, open-minded — he'll bring something special.'
Tuesday's show unfolded inside the Grand Palais' newly restored Salon d'Honneur, its gold and stone revealed after a 600-million-euro, multiyear restoration co-funded by Chanel. It's more than a venue; it's an advertisement of the house's power and commitment to Parisian heritage.
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And that's what made the show so brilliant, because it really was real.' Kolinsky continued, 'Everything he did was kind of like a crazy rocker version of 'Father Knows Best.' And he was kind.' Jason Mittell, professor of Film and Media Culture at Middlebury College, exclusively told The Post, 'It's pretty amazing that it started in 2002, which was really the very beginning of the reality TV boom. 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' had only been on for a couple of years at that point.' He explained that when 'The Osbournes' premiered, 'There was a real sense at the time that reality TV was a passing fad.' 12 Ozzy Osbourne and Sharon Osbourne at the MTV EMA's 2014 at The Hydro on November 9, 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland. Dave Hogan/MTV 2014 With 'The Osbournes' diving into the family's life and following them as characters, 'that really had not been done before on TV,' he shared. 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At the time, 'The Osbournes' was the highest-rated show in MTV's history, drawing over 5 million viewers per episode. 12 Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne at their home on December 31, 2004 in Buckinghamshire, England. Getty Images During a 2021 appearance on the 'Armchair Expert' podcast, Kelly said that when 'The Osbournes' began, 'No one had ever done what we did before. So as we were doing it, we didn't know either. We didn't know what they were going to use, and what they weren't, because they filmed everything.' She recalled that when the show premiered, 'The next day, everything changed. It was like Beatlemania, except for 'The Osbournes.'' In 2002, the Kardashians and 'Real Housewives' weren't even a twinkle in TV producers' eyes. 12 Khloe Kardashian, Kris Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner on 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' in 2013. Brian Bowen Smith/E! Reality TV existed – that was the year 'The Bachelor' premiered, too – but it was mostly competition shows like 'American Idol' or ones about niche industries, such as 'Monster Garage.' Today, fame-hungry people let viewers into their lives all the time – on shows like 'Vanderpump Rules' or 'Below Deck.' A slew of celebs also have their own reality shows, such as Sylvester Stallone in the 2023 Paramount+ show 'The Family Stallone,' Denise Richards (her first of several shows, 'Denise Richards: It's Complicated,' premiered in 2008). Alec and Hilaria Baldwin currently have TLC's 'The Baldwins.' 12 Kim Kardashian,, Kourtney, Khloe, and Kris Jenner on 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians.' 12 Mia Regan, Romeo Beckham, Cruz Beckham, Harper Beckham, David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz attend the Netflix 'Beckham' UK Premiere at The Curzon Mayfair on October 3, 2023 in London, England. WireImage David and Victoria Beckham also saw viral success with their 2023 Netflix series, 'Beckham.' But, the Osbournes 'set the template,' Mittell explained. About Ozzy's unlikely path from heavy metal rocker to reality TV star, he said, 'I think a lot of [the show's appeal] was just the combination of the sense of, here's this guy who is known for these massive rock shows and this flamboyant onscreen personality and the piercing voice. And here he is, just watching history documentaries. Or, wandering around the house, and living the normal family life.' He added, 'So I think that was a big part of [the show's success], was the idea that it was such an unusual contrast to what we would think the life of an iconic rocker would be.' 12 Annemarie Wiley, Erika Jayne, Dorit Kemsley, Kyle Richards, Garcelle Beauvais, Sutton Stracke, Crystal Minkoff on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' in 2023. Emily Shur/Bravo In a 2019 SiriusXM interview, reporter Jess Cagle told Sharon, 'Without you, you realize, there would be no Kardashians.' The family matriarch replied, 'It was really Ozzy. He was the one that was in the public eye. He was the celebrity, and he's the one that took all the risks….I think it paid off for Ozzy because people saw how funny he is. He's just hysterical, and a teddy bear.' 'The Osbournes' showed the metal star as a foul-mouthed loving father who was often amusingly bewildered by mundane daily life. 12 Sharon Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Jack Osbourne and Ozzy Osbourne appear as guest presenters on MTV TRL at The Penthouse, Leicester Square on December 17, 2004 in London. Getty Images For instance, in the series premiere episode, Ozzy struggled to figure out how to use a TV remote. 'I'm a very simple man. You've got to have computer knowledge to turn the f–king TV on and off,' he said. 'I pressed this one button…I'm going: 'What is this? Where am I, man?'' 'He just didn't really care that much about doing anything embarrassing,' Mittell told The Post. 12 The show only lasted four seasons. Getty Images Cameron Glendenning, who became a camera operator on 'The Osbournes,' told The Post that Ozzy would hang out in the garage with the show's crew at night when he was bored, and he'd prank fans who would turn up at his gate by turning the sprinklers on them. 'He'd come in there and he would be like, 'Oh yeah, let's get him! Let's go get him,'' he recalled. To Glendenning, it was just another day in the office. 'He's a f–king rock legend and we were just a bunch of kids in his garage shooting a TV show about his life and he would like break that fourth wall, walking in the garage, and we would all, you be like, 'Oh s–t! The boss is here,' but you know he was just so funny,' he added. 12 Ozzy has mixed feelings about his time on television. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The 'War Pigs' singer had mixed feelings about his own show, which is why it lasted only four seasons, despite its outsized impact on TV history. 'I don't know how the Kardashians have done it for so long — it sent us crazy at the end,' Ozzy recounted in January 2023. 'I am not sorry I did it, but after three or four years I said, 'Do you know what, we're going to lose somebody because it is getting too crazy. There is rock 'n' roll fame, which is pretty intense, but that Osbourne level was just unbelievable.' Kolinsky remembers the show as being 'part of something so special, and so unique, and so iconic.' She recalled an incident where she felt the show's impact. Shortly after it premiered, the producers went out to the House of Blues. There were no seats available, but when it came out that they worked on 'The Osbournes,' they were swiftly escorted to the venue's VIP section. 'That was the effect that show had on people. Everybody wanted to know you. [Ozzy] united different generations. The fact that he was a heavy metal rocker didn't dismay an older crowd from being hooked on the show. And, to so many people who didn't know him from his music, he was just this funny TV dad.'
