Body awareness and freedom of movement are at the heart of Gabrielle Chanel’s creations. Her look was defined by its sporty allure from the outset, and as early as 1921 she created a “Sport” atelier within her Haute Couture house.
With a little over five weeks until the start of the Paris Olympics, 2024’s athletic vibe has been shifted up another gear, thanks to the unveiling of the new Haute Joaillerie Sport collection by Chanel, presents the “Haute Joaillerie Sport”, designed by Patrice Leguéreau, Director of the CHANEL Jewellery Creation Studio. The “Haute Joaillerie Sport” collection celebrates sport’s beauty and passion, its challenges and its triumphs.
“Combining audacity, unfettered creative freedom, technical mastery and outstanding gemstones, this pure and streamlined collection is a celebration of the sporty allure that is deeply rooted in the history of CHANEL.” Patrice Leguéreau
By combining elegance and performance – through aesthetics, technique and an exceptional selection of gemstones – this collection celebrates for the first time in this field, the sporty style of CHANEL, and magnifies this momentum that highlights the allure of a woman: movement.
The line is refined and streamlined to create jewelry that moves more closely to the anatomical reality of the body, in the same way sportswear does. The chevron motif evokes rhythm and speed, the volumes are tapered, the contours clean and smooth. Lines of color infuse the look with a dynamic energy. The motifs and graphic design revisit Gabrielle Chanel’s symbols in a sporty version – the 5 in a «Chronometer» typography, the lion set in a coat of arms, the star as a symbol of victory – while the CHANEL signature is introduced for the first time into Haute Joaillerie creations in the shape of an openwork imprint.
The “Haute Joaillerie Sport” collection offers the most beautiful ensemble of gemstones ever presented by CHANEL, displaying the colors of the precious stones in all their vivid, luminous intensity. A set of five Kashmir sapphires, the fruit of several years’ research work, is a tour de force in itself. Two-tone and three-tone contrasts enhance the coloured stones, while their shapes subtly highlight the collection’s ergonomic aesthetic.
In adopting a functional approach to jewelry, technical savoir-faire also creates its own signature aesthetic. Connection systems create graphic flat surfaces, while quick release fittings borrowed from sports equipment become genuine clasps, no longer concealed but placed at the centre of the piece: a karabiner redesigned in the shape of the number 5, a swivel clasp borrowed from the iconic 2.55 bag, and sets of buckles and loops.
The Chanel quilted motif, revisited in the style of openwork high-performance fabrics, becomes a supple mesh embellished with sport motifs. And a tube chain called a “sport cord” has been specially developed by CHANEL.
A signature feature of the collection is its combination of precious and high-tech materials: aluminium, exceptionally light and resistant, takes on unprecedented new colours; carbon fibre, marrying low density with high resistance, creates an ultra-lightweight sport cuff; lacquer expands the colour palette with shades matched perfectly to the hues of the precious stones.