Chanel’s Reach for the Stars high jewellery debut in Kyoto: how the house drew inspiration from Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel’s take on Hollywood glamour for one of its ‘most important’ collections

The high jewellery grand tour is in full swing. Less than a week after Cartier debuted its new high jewellery collection in Stockholm, Chanel invited a select group of clients, editors and celebrities to Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, for the reveal of its new Reach for the Stars collection. The range is not just a homage to the celestial bodies that have long been a signature of the house’s jewellery repertoire, but also a nod to its founder’s background. In her one and only high jewellery collection – unveiled in Paris in 1932 – Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel famously used motifs such as the comet for a constellation-inspired line of diamond-embellished pieces that has gone down as one of her most remarkable achievements. A couple of years earlier, the designer had travelled to Hollywood, where she designed costumes for movies such as Tonight or Never (1931), starring Gloria Swanson. That short stint in Tinseltown was the starting point for Reach for the Stars, which celebrates Hollywood’s golden age and its stars. Pretty much every single piece – from the cheekily named Take My Breath Away and Dreams Come True sets, to the Wings of Chanel necklace – is meant for a glamorous red carpet. “This collection is almost like a dress code,” president of Chanel watches and fine jewellery Frédéric Grangié explained in an interview in Kyoto. “When I look at the collection and recall some of those movies, I feel that some of the pieces are like evening dresses. It’s a very glamorous collection, but when Coco Chanel was in Hollywood she treated glamour in a completely different way. She was coming from a couture background as one of the greatest designers ever, and created very light dresses with a focus on the back and also silk or muslin sleeves, which gave them a ‘winged’ silhouette.” The comet is back as a leitmotif, appearing in some shape or form in every single piece, but Reach for the Stars truly shines in its introduction of a new motif that Grangié alluded to: the wing. Patrice Leguéreau – the late director of Chanel’s jewellery creation studio who conjured up this range before his untimely passing last year – was inspired by one of Coco Chanel’s famous maxims: “If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.” Wings are symbolic of the freedom of movement that Coco Chanel championed in her ready-to-wear creations. They appear in some of the most striking pieces, including the aforementioned Wings of Chanel necklace, evoking a sense of lightness through techniques such as openwork and the asymmetrical settings of stones. Another Chanel icon, the lion – which Leguéreau introduced in 2012 as a homage to Gabrielle’s zodiac sign – returns but is reinvented as an almost abstract shape. In one necklace, named Embrace Your Destiny, two majestic winged lions gently sit on each side of the neck, staring at each other. It is one of those bold pieces that can truly make an outfit, as Grangié explained. The decision to debut the range in Kyoto was an easy one for Grangié, who spent some time living and working in Japan before joining Chanel. But there’s a deeper connection between the house’s jewellery ateliers and the ancient capital. After discovering the work of Kyoto-based lacquer artist Yoshio Okada and starting to collaborate with him almost a decade ago, Leguéreau had always wanted to unveil a high jewellery collection in Japan. This made this year’s launch even more poignant for Grangié and his team. A series of five wing brooches in white gold and diamonds embellished with lacquer work from the Okada workshop are heartfelt nods to the city of Kyoto and its rich tradition of arts and crafts. Grangié is perhaps too humble to say this, but the idea of “reaching for the stars” is also an apt metaphor for Chanel’s ambitions in the rarefied world of high jewellery, given that the house doesn’t have a long-standing, jewellery-first heritage like some other maisons that were founded primarily as jewellers. This, however, can also be an advantage and a way for the brand to write its own history. While Chanel is first and foremost a fashion house, you can’t discount the importance of its watches and jewellery portfolio, which Grangié has helped grow and expand since joining in 2016. He calls Reach for the Stars one of Chanel’s “most important collections ever” and “a new foundation, a building block” in the history of Chanel high jewellery. Coming on the heels of blockbuster collections such as Tweed de Chanel and Haute Joaillerie Sport, Reach for the Stars is particularly meaningful to Grangié and his team. It is a moving homage to Leguéreau’s remarkable body of work, while also embodying the spirit of innovation – one built on the tradition of haute couture – that defines Chanel’s jewellery universe.