Chanel is set to host a fashion show in Manchester

Dubbed ‘Cottonopolis’ in the 19th century, the UK city has a long relationship with clothes.

Chanel will be heading to Manchester in December (Alamy/PA)

French fashion house Chanel will hold its next Métiers d’Art collection in Manchester.

Métiers d’Art collections take place outside of the normal fashion week schedule, and choose a new city for every show. Past collections have been held in Tokyo, Shanghai, Rome and Dakar.

The aim of these shows is to put the spotlight on the specialist ateliers acquired by Chanel, showing off the craftsmanship involved.

Chanel’s creative director, Virginie Viard – who took over from Karl Lagerfeld when he died in 2019 – will host the show in Manchester on December 7.

It wouldn’t be the first time Chanel has picked a UK city – in December 2012, the show was held at the ruins of Linlithgow Palace, near Edinburgh, Scotland.

Chanel said in a statement: “Presented in cities and places that inspire the house, from Tokyo to New York, via Dakar last year, this collection bears witness to the historic commitment of Chanel to this exceptional artisanal heritage and its influence around the world.”

While London is predominantly seen as the fashion capital of the UK, Manchester has a long relationship with clothes. The city was dubbed ‘Cottonopolis’ in the 19th century – it was home to over 100 cotton mills and was seen as the global centre of the cotton trade.

Nowadays, fashion trends in Manchester tend to stem from the city’s thriving music scene – past musical trendsetters include The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Oasis.

Chanel has a busy fashion show calendar before it lands in Manchester: it will debut its spring/summer 2025 collection at Paris Fashion Week in September, followed by a repeat showing of its Cruise 2024 collection in Shenzhen, China in November.

Blockbuster fashion exhibition ‘Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto’ – dedicated to the designer who established the luxury fashion house – is set to open on September 16 at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

In May, celebrities including Barbie actor Margot Robbie, reality show star Paris Hilton and Spencer actor Kristen Stewart attended Chanel’s Cruise collection in Los Angeles, so it will likely be another star-studded front row in Manchester.