It brought glitz and glamour to Manchester as Chanel’s world-renowned high fashion catwalk Metiers d’art transformed the Northern Quarter. The talk across the city however perhaps wasn’t the PR success Chanel had hoped, as Manchester reacted with its usual sarcastic whit. In fact, the last time a brand got this much stick trying to do something interesting in the city was probably Magnum’s infamous Piccadilly Garden’s advert. From celebrity sex tape sales to supermodel doppelgängers, here are the most weird and wonderful things that happened when Chanel came to town.
Arguably more talked about than the catwalk itself, Kate Moss was spotted at Aldi in Ancoats along with her security guard and keen paparazzi waiting outside. She later walked down and could be seen outside Just Between Friends enjoying a coffee. This was all of course just a ploy by the champions of retail parody, Aldi.
Perhaps the Northern Quarter’s most recognisable pub, The Millstone, known for its boozy any time-of-day karaoke sessions, displayed a poster welcoming stars in the lead up to the show meanwhile its patrons continued to blast out karaoke classics.
Just a few doors down from The Millstone on Thomas Street lies Love Boutique. Love Boutique chose a different way to celebrate the showcase, by letting the world know they are selling a certain Kardashian’s infamous sex tape which was sponsored by Chanelle (the parrot from the viral video, not the brand). This one speaks for itself as to why it’s on the list really.
Finally, there was a stance against high fashion from one of Manchester’s popular streetwear brand Drama Call, using the iconic Chanel CC logo to print t-shirts reading ‘Gentrification’ and ‘Posh C*nts’ and giving 250 of them out for free outside the catwalk. The brand and other local journos opposed the arrival of Chanel suggesting the rich descended on the Northern Quarter to amuse themselves.