On October 8th 2019, the ceremony symbolically marking the completion of the structural work of the new site for CHANEL’s Métiers d’art, baptised Le 19M, was held in the presence of Bruno Pavlovsky, President of CHANEL Fashion and President of CHANEL SAS, Frédéric Hocquard, the Deputy Mayor of Paris, in charge of cultural economic diversity, representing Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, Patrick Braouezec, President of the Plaine Commune, and the architect Rudy Ricciotti, winner of the Grand Prix National de l’architecture.
Built on 9,000m² of land at the Porte d’Aubervilliers, the 25,000m² building complex, once completed, will extend over five floors and two basements. Designed by Rudy Ricciotti to “recount the relationship between the technical and expert complexity of fashion’s handcraftsmanship, its remarkable virtuosity put to the service of creation and beauty, and the extreme technological nature of my projects”, this building is destined to bring CHANEL’s Métiers d’art together under one roof. Six hundred people in total: the embroiderer Lesage along with Lesage Intérieurs and its École de broderie d’art, the Montex atelier and MTX, its decoration department, the shoemaker Massaro, the feather and flower expert Lemarié, the hatter and milliner Maison Michel, the pleater Lognon, the grand flou atelier Paloma and the goldsmith Goossens will thus be able to express their exceptional savoir-faire while remaining close to the Creation studio at CHANEL as well as the other fashion houses that rely on their skills. Also added to this prestigious list is Eres, the lingerie and swimwear reference brand, renowned for its savoir-faire and creativity.
“Le 19M is an ambitious project, as much for its urban and architectural qualities as for its functionality and its objectives in terms of innovation and sustainable development. Our goal is to maintain and develop the exceptional heritage of the Métiers d’art, at the crossroads of Paris’s cultural influence and the societal issues of fashion.” – Bruno Pavlovsky, President of CHANEL Fashion and CHANEL SAS
As a veritable bridge between tradition and innovation, Le 19M has been conceived as a multidisciplinary and open ecosystem. Its structure and its architecture are the result of the highest quality environmental considerations. The building completely respects the Parisian climate plan and as well as promoting energy efficiency and biodiversity, aims to be awarded the most demanding environmental certificates and labels, including the NF HQE Tertiary Buildings standard, the BREEAM International New Construction certificate and the LEED Label.
Its name alone, Le 19M, resumes the vocation of this new ensemble: M for the words Mains (Hands), Mode (Fashion), Métier (Craftsmanship), and 19 for the arrondissement that welcomes it, on the edge of Paris. Le 19M, a building full of life, open to the world and the public, will be an actor in its own right in the future Grand Paris. As a showcase with its ateliers sustaining and enhancing Paris’s artisanal fashion heritage, Le 19M will also be home to an agora, 1,200 m² of space devoted to meeting, sharing and dialogue.
To illustrate the activities of the future Le 19M while introducing it into neighbourhood life, an artistic project has been installed: imagined by the artist Case Maclaim, a fresco, 130 metres long and 5 metres high, unfolds over the boundary wall of the building site.
With Le 19M, CHANEL is continuing the project to preserve and develop the savoir-faire of the Métiers d’art that was begun in 1985, with the acquisition of more than thirty Maisons d’art and manufactories that represents about 5,000 employees, serving creation at CHANEL and other major names in fashion.
“Our responsibility is to put people at the heart of Le 19M project”, concludes Bruno Pavlovsky.
