Inside Chanel's Haute Couture Ateliers: Where 150 Hours Become a Dress
We visited the Rue Cambon ateliers during the Spring-Summer season
Edward Cavendish
Fashion & Style Editor
15 November 2024
11 min read
Each Chanel couture piece requires between 100 and 800 hours of handwork. We spent a day with the petites mains — the specialist artisans who create what the fashion press photographs — and learned why couture cannot, will not, and should not become efficient.
Haute couture is regulated in France by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. To bear the designation, a house must employ at least 15 full-time workers in its Paris atelier, present a minimum of 35 looks each season, and make every piece to order. Chanel employs 500 people in its ateliers. This is not a technicality; it is a philosophy.
The Process
A Chanel couture suit begins with a toile — a muslin mockup — fitted to the client's precise measurements. There are typically three fittings before a single piece of the final cloth is cut. The jacket's chest, interlaced with chains to give it weight and drape, is hand-stitched by a specialist who does nothing else. A single jacket: 130 hours.
“The petites mains do not think of their work as slow. They think of everything else as rushed.”
Partner
Chanel
Couture appointments at 31 rue Cambon, Paris. By introduction or established client relationship.
