La bellezza di una collezione CHANEL Métiers d'art è insita negli incontri, fonte imprescindibile di creazione: quello degli artigiani della moda e dei maestri in primis, ma anche l'incontro con una città, i suoi luoghi, i suoi abitanti e le grandi figure culturali che la animano.

Presentando la collezione Métiers d'art 2022/23 a Dakar lo scorso dicembre e oggi a Tokyo, CHANEL crea collegamenti tra le principali capitali artistiche e riunisce artisti e personalità di diversa estrazione, lasciando spazio a nuove connessioni creative e la realizzazione di idee.

Photographs : Chikashi Suzuki Styling : Ibrahim Kamara

Nana Komatsu’s magnetic presence has graced the big screen for over a decade. From Paris to Dakar, Senegal, she views the world with a gaze that resembles her identity: liberated, bold, singular. An encounter with a great actress of her time.

YOU WERE IN DAKAR FOR THE CHANEL 2022/23 MÉTIERS D’ART SHOW. WHAT KIND OF MEMORIES DO YOU KEEP FROM THIS PLACE?

What I discovered was beyond my expectations. Dakar has an incredible energy. I was able to experience the energy and freedom that emerged from the place. The show made me look forward to the infinite possibilities and to the future of creation, and to the future of Dakar and CHANEL even more. It was a wonderful trip.

THE WORD “INDEPENDENT” OFTEN OCCURS WHEN WE READ ARTICLES ABOUT YOU. HOW DID YOU EARN THIS INDEPENDENCE?

Since I started acting at the age of twelve, I have had the personal desire to grow up fast, so I learned everything very quickly to reach my goals on my own. I love freedom, so I thought that if I became independent, I could be entrusted to do anything (laughs). Freedom is very important to me!

YOU’VE SAID THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO PLAY GABRIELLE CHANEL IN A MOVIE. WHY IS HER PERSONALITY SO INSPIRING TO YOU?

My first impression of Gabrielle Chanel was “What a cool lady!” Bold and honourable, she became my heroine since then. I like her attitude towards life and the way she thinks. She is the one who taught me that peoples’ inner energy affects their lives. It would be an honour to embody her, whom I admire so much.

Dispersed in the public space, as if stopped dead in their daily walk, a group of about fifty people move with infinitesimal slowness while the rest of the city continues to race forward.
This strange tableau vivant, which stretches time like an elastic band, comes from the imagination of Dimitri Chamblas, an artist inspired by the great diversity of bodies, attitudes, trajectories and identities contained in contemporary big cities.

We rarely take time to look at the slow, which we often confuse with an emptiness, calm or nothing.

Today, CHANEL is consolidating this international adventure that links performance, educational and societal commitment.
After a Senegalese edition performed in Dakar in December 2022 as an introduction to the 2022/23 Métiers d’art show, Dimitri Chamblas’ Slow Show will be presented in June 2023 as a portrait of Tokyo’s youth.

An encounter with a person, an art form, a world, an aesthetic, a philosophy: the objects we own, like the places that surround us, are memory capsules and fragments of life. We asked a writer, a director, as well as actors, musicians and models to tell their stories through objects, places and people that surround them or that they keep forever in their hearts.

Ahead of their performance for the
2022/23 Métiers d’art replica show in Tokyo, rapper Nix and guitar virtuoso Ichika Nito share their musical tastes. This playlist in the form of a double musical self-portrait is like a first step in the encounter between the two artists.

ACCORDING TO YOU, WHICH SONG HAS THE POWER OF UNITING PEOPLE?

IN : “Wax Wings”. This song is from Periphery’s (progressive metal band, ed. note) newly released record of 2023, and there is a tremendous sense of unity in this song.

N: I have to say three or four: Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”, Bob Marley’s “One Love”, Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, and “Ojuelegba” by Wizkid (Nigerian singer and songwriter, ed. note), an undeniable milestone in the Afrobeats era. A timeless record in my opinion.

IF YOU HAD TO INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO EACH OTHER THROUGH MUSIC, what would be the FIVE SONGs YOU WOULD use?

N: “Tout c’que j’ai” by me, “Hey Joe” by Jimi Hendrix, “On & On” by Erykah Badu, “Ojuelegba” by Wizkid and “Bes” by Youssou N’Dour. I had a hard time making this list. It’s so hard to choose just five songs when you’ve been rocked by music all your life.

IN: “Awakening” and “I Miss You”, which are two of my tracks, “Codex” by Veil of Maya, Iron Maiden’s “Transylvania”, and “Transparent Soul” by Willow Smith.

WE’LL SOON BE SEEING YOU IN THE THIRD PART OF THE KINGDOM SAGA (KINGDOM, UNMEI NO HONO), ADAPTED FROM THE MANGA OF THE SAME NAME. WHAT ROLE DO YOU PLAY IN IT?

Kingdom is set in ancient China, during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, and tells the story of Shin, who aims to become the great commander in chief, and Ei Sei, the first king that aimed to unify the whole country. The film focuses on the people who had a major influence on each life. I play a black merchant who helped him a lot in his youth.

YOU YOURSELF ARE A "REKI-JO" – A JAPANESE FEMALE HISTORY BUFF – AND YOUR PARTICULAR INTEREST IS THE SHINSENGUMI SAMURAI GROUP IN JAPAN. WHAT MAKES YOU SO PASSIONATE ABOUT STUDYING THE PAST?

The Shinsengumi were around in the mid-19^th century, in the Bakumatsu period. I’m interested in the Bakumatsu period because it seems to me to be both very close and very far away. I feel like it’s almost a fantasy world that we don’t have access to, and yet it’s only five generations old, we even have photos of it. But Japanese culture has changed so much since then, for example, the kimono, which is now an exceptional outfit, was worn every day back then. I find this dichotomy fascinating.

THIS REPLICA SHOW FOR THE 2022/23 MÉTIERS D’ART COLLECTION IS TAKING PLACE IN TOKYO, YOUR HOMETOWN: WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE CITY?

The Jimbocho district, a historic center where many samurai lived and where you can see Edo Castle. It’s also full of old bookstores. What I like about leafing through books there is discovering stories you never knew existed. These works are a huge source of inspiration, even when you just pick them up, hold them and touch their paper.