Chanel takes to the stage: couture dresses an incandescent ballet at the Opéra Garnier
At the Palais Garnier, the codes of the classical stage are shattered. With Red Carpet, choreographer Hofesh Shechter propels thirteen dancers from the Paris Opera into a creation that is feverish, free and profoundly human. A raw, almost instinctive ballet, in which bodies tell what words fail to say. And for this performance, CHANEL designed the costumes. An unprecedented, intense and viscerally modern collaboration.
A ballet between daydream and decadent cabaret
From the very first minutes, Red Carpet sets the tone. No fixed ball, no academic classicism: a hallucinatory cabaret, glittering with lamé, pink bouclette and unstructured tuxedos. But the stage is soon turned upside down. Appearances crumble, costumes fall off, and the raw, vulnerable body takes over.
With Shechter, a British-Israeli choreographer renowned for his “visceral, electric, intense” gestural language, choreographic writing dispenses with linearity. ” You think you understand, but you never really do,” he confides. And it’s precisely this element of mystery, this tension between glamour and disarmament, that CHANEL’s costumes so wonderfully convey.
Chanel: from fashion to movement
Since 2018, CHANEL has been an active patron of the Opéra national de Paris. But here, its involvement goes far beyond financial support. By designing the costumes for Red Carpet, CHANEL has become an integral part of the choreographic language. Each outfit – created with the Ateliers de l’Opéra – blends sophistication with absolute freedom of movement.
“The perfect costume is the one that helps us feel more strongly what we’re seeing,” Shechter sums up. Whether it’s a long, slit dress or a subtly diverted gala suit, couture becomes an integral part of the scenic narrative. A second skin, at once armor and abandon.
An aesthetic shock not to be missed
Carried by thirteen masterfully rigorous dancers, Red Carpet is as striking for its physical intensity as for its poetic fragility. The group’s energy oscillates between ecstasy, chaos and introspection. All this in a staging that’s stripped down to its bare essentials, but with a rare dramatic density.
Presented until July 14, 2025 at the Palais Garnier, the piece will then embark on a U.S. tour, with San Francisco and New York as key stops. And for those who can’t make it, a recording by Floris Bernard will soon be available on POP – Paris Opera Play, the Opera’s streaming platform.
Practical info
🩰 Show: Red Carpet
🎭 Choreography: Hofesh Shechter
👗 Costumes: CHANEL, with Ateliers de l’Opéra
📍 Location: Palais Garnier, Place de l’Opéra, 75009 Paris
📅 Dates : June 10 to July 14, 2025
🎟️ Reservations: opera-de-paris.fr
📺 Broadcast soon on POP – Paris Opera Play
🌍 Tour USA: San Francisco & New York, October 2025
Also read: Balenciaga x Demna: an exhibition before a theatrical departure
