CHANEL PEARL IS THE ONLY ACCESSORY YOU NEED THIS WINTER

art direction and photography MAURICIO SÁNCHEZ
editor MAREK BARTEK

There are many, many things we associate with Chanel — tweed jacket-skirt suits, camellias or the little black dress — but the list wouldn’t be complete without pearls. You probably won’t find a photograph of Coco Chanel without them; she wore them constantly, layered and oversized, long before they became a house signature. Prioritising both comfort and fashion, she didn’t only revolutionise how women dress, but her admiration for pearls shifted how we view and approach accessorising today. 

In the early 20th century, jewellery was almost exclusively for the rich. Women would usually own only a few pieces, and wear them singularly to showcase their status. This didn’t really align with Chanel’s visionary spirit. As she once proclaimed, “A woman needs ropes and ropes of pearls.” True to her words and out with the rules, she started to mix real pearls with faux ones, treated costume jewellery as equal to fine jewellery, and paired strands of pearls with jersey tops and daytime tailoring. More than just a scandal, it was a liberation from status, pioneering the idea that jewellery can be playful, accessible and worn however we like. 

Over a century later, pearls are an inherent part of Chanel’s language that the Maison continuously built on. Each season pearls return to the runway, and the Fall/Winter 2025 show was no exception. An interim collection created by the in-house design team approached the love for a pearl in a way that truly stood out, turning the expected into something refreshing. Apart from the more “traditional” strands of pearls worn over knitwear, tweed suits and denim, we saw an abundance of pearl appliqués — for example on the bow of the little black velvet dress, matching necklace-belt sets or the absolutely stunning pearl-heeled boots. And of course, how would we ever forget the giant pearl crossbodies. 

Chanel FW25 reminded us that just because something is considered a house code, it doesn’t mean it needs to remain unchanged. Pearls became the perfect example of how to translate a 115-year-old Maison’s codes for the woman of the 21st century.