Page 45 - S Winter 2025

W hile she’s visited many world-class cities
throughout her career, there’s something
intangibly exciting about Marseille that’s drawn
photographer Diana Louise Bartlett time and
time again. For her, its energy, its people, and the
nearby sea have a moth-to-flame effect, sparking
her creativity with each visit.
The bustling port of Marseille has been an
inspiration for many artistic souls and innovators.
Famed architect Le Corbusier’s work in the
city revolutionized building designs throughout
Europe. The juxtaposition of Le Corbusier’s
work offset by the “vast blue sea” creates the
visual delight that keeps Bartlett coming back
for more.
“If you’re facing the water, you see 180
degrees of blue, and if you face the other
direction you see 180 degrees of mountain,”
she says. “It really is the best of both worlds.”
While not directly linked to Marseille,
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel had the same knack
for innovation as Le Corbusier, changing the way
women dressed for decades to come. The city’s
vibrant and unique history—in addition
to its vacation setting—made it the perfect
setting to showcase CHANEL’s 2024/2025
Cruise collection.
Presented on the roof of Le Corbusier’s La
Cité Radieuse, the collection drew inspiration
from the sense of freedom felt throughout the
city—the feeling of windswept hair while looking
out at the sparkling sea, diving headfirst into the
blue depths.
Casual wear gets a CHANEL makeover with
the collection, through high-low layering—
sweatshirts stuffed under tweed coats, sleeveless
dresses with kangaroo pockets, terry-towel flip
flops with a platform, knitted Bermuda shorts
with a scalloped trim, and cardigans evoking
fishing nets. Patent leather shoes, inspired by
menswear, and decadent layers of pearl necklaces
further elevate the looks, and the swimwear
brings the collection from day to night, as the city
and the sea are forever intertwined for Marseille.
It’s a newer, laid-back tone for the typically
refined house—and for Bartlett, “it felt like an
introduction to a new Marseille.”
The elegant, carpe-diem nature captured in
the collection matches the lively Marseille day
Bartlett yearns for—her ideal day would find her
swimming from the rocks at Les Goudes, lunch at
Tuba Club, and a night in Marseille proper after
a quick siesta.
Photographing her days in Marseille, including
the CHANEL Cruise show, she captures both the
simplicity of life by the sea, and the lavishness.
A perfect combination of a life well lived.
“In my work I like to photograph the
mundanity of life, sometimes of an extravagant
or a glamorous life,” Bartlett says. “My diary is a
depiction of daily sensitivities and indulgences—
it’s tongue-in-cheek.”
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