What’s Happening: Chanel’s inaugural runway show in Africa spotlights the rare talents of its specialist artisans and kicks off a major partnership to mentor Senegalese craftspeople.

The Download: Though it exists outside the typical fashion calendar, Chanel’s Métiers d’Art is always a highlight of the sartorial circuit. The annual event transcends the typical runway show by recognizing the craftspeople taken under the French label’s wings at Paris’s new Le19M building, the residence of Chanel’s artisans, putting the rare manufacturing skills involved in embroidery, shoe-making, millinery, feather work, and pleating on full display in an ultra-exclusive setting. Invites are rare, and Chanel ambassador Kristen Stewart was the only guest during the 2020 show at the 16th-century Château de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley, in accordance with France’s social distancing rules.

The itinerant show has traveled to Shanghai, Tokyo, and Monte Carlo in the past, but this year touched down in Dakar fresh off the heels of the Senegalese capital’s 20th annual fashion week. It marks both Chanel’s inaugural runway outing on African soil and a headlining moment for the country’s thriving fashion industry, which has produced labels like Tongoro, Diarrablu, and Adama Paris, helmed by Dakar Fashion Week founder Adama Ndiaye. In an announcement, Chanel explained how the savoir-faire of its Métiers d’Art aims to “resonate with the artistic and cultural energy of the city.” So it’s fitting the house staged the show in the former Palais de Justice, a historic backdrop that hosted this year’s Dakar Biennale.

For those who couldn’t attend, the campaign more than does the collection justice. Shot by Senegalese photographer Malick Bodian and Sierra Leone–born editor Ibrahim Kamara, it sees models Alaato Jazyper and Loli Bahia flaunting the garments near the River Seine in Paris. Among the highlights: a floral-embroidered jacket by Montex, a Lesage tweed sweatshirt festooned with camellias by flower-maker Lemarié, and a pleated skirt by Lognon.

Chanel had been contemplating its entry into Africa for years, according to president Bruno Pavlovsky. He recalls a conversation in Japan where brand ambassador Pharrell Williams urged then-creative director Karl Lagerfeld to consider the idea. “I was intimidated to ask because I don’t think a fashion house had been to that part of Africa before,” Williams said during a Chanel “master class” this past month after the brand’s Cruise 2023 Replica show in Miami. The pandemic delayed those plans, as did Lagerfeld’s passing, but it seems worth the wait. Métiers d’Art is anchoring a three-day culture festival uniting local talent across music, film, and art.

In Their Own Words: The elephant in the room, of course, is how to reckon with France’s former occupation of Senegal. “It’s not lost on them that this was once a French colony,” Williams said. “To come there and do the exact opposite of colonization was interesting. Because it’s not just coming there to do a show. It’s actually providing so many partnerships. That’s unprecedented.”

Surface Says: Tune in for a film of the show at 8 AM EST this morning.

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French firm Studio KO has a love affair with Marrakech. From the Yves Saint Laurent Museum to restaurants Le Grand Café de la Poste and Bô Zin, principals Olivier Marty and Karl Fournier’s brand of rustic minimalism lends itself perfectly to the aesthetic of the Pink City. Now comes the women-led Sahbi Sahbi, a textural temple to Moroccan craft and dadas, the cooks who hold the secrets to the country’s flavorful cuisine and pass them down through generations. Located in the modern Guéliz district, natural tones, sculptural walls, and hand-hewn ceramics set the scene for the centerpiece open kitchen, where female chefs from across the country prepare traditional dishes such as tagines, pastilla, and couscous in a wood-fired oven.

Ugo Rondinone’s monumental stone sculptures have landed everywhere from the desert near Las Vegas to Collins Park on Miami Beach, but the Swiss-born artist’s latest works can be held in your hand. He teamed up with jeweler and close friend Gazza Graham to create seven sterling silver rings whose hand-inlaid semi-precious stones and carvings speak to planetary influences and days of the week. (Moonstone represents Monday and the moon; aquamarine speaks to Thursday and Jupiter.) Presented by Carpenters Workshop Gallery at Design Miami and available in an edition of 30, the $6,500 rings ($35,00 for the set) prove Rondinone’s meditations on spirituality, nature, and color resonate in any medium.

Saint Laurent brought “Sex” to Miami Beach with a star-studded cocktail celebrating the re-edition of Madonna’s provocative book—and a temporary beachside gallery curated by creative director Anthony Vaccarello with large-scale prints of archival shots on view for the first time. Guests showed up in style on Miami Art Week’s busiest night—many donning pieces from the label’s fall 2022 collection—to enjoy a DJ set by Honey Dijon while browsing Steven Meisel’s images of the star, which haven’t lost their impact three decades later.

When was it? Dec. 1

Where was it? Miami Beach

Who was there? Raf Simons, James Blake, JR, Zoë Kravitz, Hugo Comte, Richie Shazam, and more.

When: Until Dec. 31

Where: The Little House by Dries Van Noten, Los Angeles

What: The first shoppable installation of Laila and Nadia Gohar’s eponymous tableware brand lands at Dries Van Noten, where the sister duo has crafted a sensorial and surreal setting befitting their imaginative accessories. Inspired by the circus and fun houses, the installation is outfitted in vibrant trompe l’oeil murals lined with decadently stacked glassware and fancifully dressed color block tables sprinkled with sweet and savory food candles, langoustine mother of pearl dessert spoons, plates embellished with bean drawings, and glamorous dishwashing gloves.

Over the years, Kelly Wearstler has carved a place for herself as the progenitor of a modern aesthetic: groovy but not goofy, comfy but smart, and sharp enough to never get too cozy. Her latest collab feels perfectly of the moment, teaming with Miami-via-Mexico stone purveyor Arca to utilize its ancient materials and forward-thinking technology for one-of-a-kind pieces that offer, as she describes, “a nuanced and sensual interplay of suppleness and strength.” The Nudo collection comprises 16 furniture pieces and a further six accessories, each a knotty exploration of natural stone’s potential.

Bisazza is one of the top luxury brands in the design sector and the industry’s leading producer of glass mosaics for interior and exterior decoration. Over the past few years, the company has extended its offerings with new materials made through processes that combine design with the charm of craftsmanship.

Surface Says: With a roster of leading collaborators spanning Jaime Hayon, Paola Navone, David Rockwell, Patricia Urquiola, and Marcel Wanders, Bisazza makes its tiles and mosaics instantly recognizable and far from commonplace.

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Enter the Romanian castle used for Nevermore Academy on Wednesday.

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