The "Fashion Show" is less than a few hundred miles to describe Chanel's 2024/2025 Métiers D'art runway, a collection of more than 60 looks presented at sunset in Hangzhou, West Lake, China, depicted as a gentle fog swept over the water. In a way, it was a vivid picture. Specifically, the realization of the landscape painted on the screen of Gabriel Chanel's Coromandel still stands in the apartment on the famous Rue Cambon in Paris. The designer had never traveled to China in her lifetime, but her screen as a bouclé jacket in romantic silk and sunset tones

Put another way, the show was a summit of artists and a celebration of all forms of creativity. Complementing the intricate (and sometimes size-inclusive) runway look made at Chanel's creative studio was a strong guest list of 1,100 people, full of masters of their craft. Orion Karloto, a writer, poet and arbiter of personal style, was included in the lineup.

In a film—like project for her, Carloto created phrases and images as accurately as Chanel craftsmen sewed beads into a decorated clutch, and she found that Chanel-owned workshops, such as Maison Lesage's embroidery artisans and Atelier Lognon's pleats, looked so beautifully in the front row. We prepared for the Métiers d'art show, hoping to honor the scrupulous way in which we approach each garment in order to make it look and feel more comfortable.

"I have a great deal of respect for the atelier and the careful work they put in to make each individual garment feel kind of like," Carloto says. She showed it in a structured midi dress that was carefully set with hundreds of beaded flowers arranged by hand, paired with Chanel pearls and heart earrings and white pumps.

The dress fit so well and it felt custom. "Every crystal that was hand-sewn into the piece I wore hugged my frame with love. "Since we were in Hangzhou, a submerged city for centuries of history, it felt right to go for a more classic silhouette. I don't think I've ever felt pretty.

Sitting with Lupita Nyong'o and Tilda Swinton in the front row, dressing to honor the work of Chanel's artisans gave Carloto the opportunity to re-evaluate the connection between her clothes and her art. She usually seeks beauty in mediocre, write-at-her-desk outfits; the show was an opportunity to experience something more luxurious. "On average days, I tend to wear several versions of the same stuff. "But it's nice to have moments where it's a little more exciting to dress up, like the Chanel show.

Incorporating a vast waterfront runway struck Karloto as something far more than a photographic opportunity or an overseas trip. "Halfway through the show, I had this special moment to myself where everything sounded quietly," she says. "It was quite surreal to come to reality that I was sitting parallel to the historical moment of fashion, paired with the stunning background of the Chinese blue time. Nothing compares to the gratitude that spills over me.

Chanel itself may have had exactly the words Carlo was looking for in her reflections on the night. According to the show notes, it was not just a runway, but a "poetic voyage.""