The 5 key takeaways from Chanel's SS24 Haute Couture show

Haute Couture Fashion Week is in full swing in the French capital. Chanel took centre stage on the second day of the week with a runway show presented, as usual, at the Grand Palais Éphémère. A few days before the show, the house unveiled The Button, a short film produced by pgLang, written and directed by Dave Free, set to the music of Kendrick Lamar. It provided a first glimpse of the inspirations behind the SS4 Haute Couture collection. The heroine of this short film, American actress, model, and Chanel muse Margaret Qualley, opened the runway show in an all-white look highlighted by a Pierrot collar. Here are key points to remember from this show.

The button is one of the essential codes of the house. Both functional and jewel-like, the buttons that grace the Chanel designs bring together craftsmanship and expertise. Recognisable at first glance, it was only natural that they would one day become the inspiration for a Chanel collection. In the short film The Button, revealed before the show, Margaret Qualley is seen hot on the trail of a button that she discovers is missing from the cuff of her Chanel jacket. This same button, imagined in surreal dimensions, hovered above the runway and contributed to a minimalist couture set designed by Kendrick Lamar, Dave Free, and Mike Carson, who were invited by Virginie Viard.

Related: Step inside Chanel's atelier for an exclusive look at the making of its SS24 Haute Couture collection

The Chanel Haute Couture runway show for SS24 opened with six all-white looks! The first of these looks was worn by Margaret Qualley, who opened the show. These immaculate looks incorporated some of the essential codes of the Chanel house, from tweed to jewel-like buttons, and offered a preview of this collection. The models walked with all the grace of ballet dancers, wearing airy silhouettes composed of tulle complemented with white dancer-like tights. To close the show, the traditional bride, embodied this season by Loli Bahia, wore a tulle dress that played with volume and featured floral embroidery.

Featuring lace belts, pastel tones, small bows, sequins, and floral embroideries, the Chanel haute couture collection was characterized by its soft lines and hues. It also featured bodysuits, ethereal evening gowns, and white tights that resembled those worn by ballet dancers.

Dance is an integral part of Chanel's history. As a major patron of the Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris, the house celebrated this art form in this couture collection and brought a certain grace and finesse to the collection. The silhouettes were light, airy, and played with volumes through tulle, ruffles, pleats, and lace. Nearly a century after Gabrielle Chanel's first creations for the ballet, this collection delivered a wardrobe colored with touches of pink and white, and accented with vibrant hues reminiscent of the Ballets Russes, in a decidedly contemporary interpretation.

Alongside floral details, sparkling embroideries, and cascades of tulle, bows added a new dimension to the looks, either adorning embroidered bodysuits or crowning the heads of the models. Imagined in supersized dimensions and exclusively in black, they elegantly tied the hair of the models and confirmed that the bowcore trend that has been taking hold of fashion in recent seasons has not said its last word.