On the last day of Paris Fashion Week, during which the big fashion brands presented their collections for the following winter, Chanel gave us an optimistic promise: it will be a winter full of flowers!

Virginie Viard delivered a collection which celebrated one of the Maison’s favorites codes, the camellia, exactly 100 years after Coco Chanel had adorned one of her black suits with what would become fashion’s most beloved botanical. The collection was presented in a set built around towering, sculptured white camellias, which faced an audience already impressed by the fresh-cut camellia blossoms they had found waiting for them on their seats.

"The camellia is more than a theme, it’s an eternal code of the House,” noted Viard in the house’s statement. “I find it reassuring and familiar, I like its softness and its strength.”

Admiring a collection full of Chanel’s most popular elements was certainly reassuring. Romantic, and gentle with a bohemian twist, the looks were unified by the camellia motif, found almost everywhere: in white feathers on knits, woven into classic tweeds, in floral prints and patterns, in lace tights, on flowing pants, on the shoes and the jewelry-like bags.

Of course, Chanel’s signature tweed and pearls were also present on the 66 looks of the collection, which featured a mod-ish allure, inspired by the beatniks. The ‘60s film character Polly Maggoo, famous for her trademark thick eyeliner, was projected onto the camellia sculptures, in the form of Japanese actress Nana Komatsu, shot by photographers Inez & Vinoodh.

On the runway, bermuda-shorts suits and loose jumpsuits complemented the standard tweed ensembles and wearable prairie dresses, composing a collection that revealed Viard’s consideration to create pieces that anyone can wear. All-time-classic black and white were the dominant colors, enriched with hints of red and pink, to sweeten up things.

The audience looked deeply charmed, already before the end of the show; but Virginie Viard was yet to make her final move. For the big finale of the presentation, the white camellia sculptures turned suddenly into glowing red, cast in red light, and started slowly shifting between red and pink. So this is what fascination à la Chanel looks like…