While craftsmanship is a key element of all Métiers d’Art collections, they’re also a way for the Chanel design studio, helmed by creative director Virginie Viard, to indulge in flights of fancy. These collections incorporate elements of the show location, whether it’s stars and stripes and cowboy boots for the Dallas range or beaded jackets and Chanel double Cs blown up into animal prints for the more recent Dakar outing.

Lego x Hermès Birkin bag: the AI-generated collab we never knew we wanted

For the Manchester range, which was unveiled in the Northern Quarter, a neighbourhood filled with cool shops, hip restaurants and art galleries, Viard chose the city’s music scene as her main source of inspiration. Manchester is the birthplace of Britpop and home to Hacienda, a legendary club where bands such as Primal Scream, New Order, Oasis and The Stone Roses performed back in the 1980s and 1990s, when the city was the epicentre of rock and pop music.

In a statement released before the show, Chanel said that it had chosen Manchester because it is “one of the most effervescent cities of pop culture and an avant-garde one, whose bands, spanning all genres, have changed the history of music”.

Translating that rebellious attitude into refined luxury garments is not easy, but when looking at Viard’s personal style – she’s often clad in beat-up Converse shoes and distressed jeans, paired with a band T-shirt and a Chanel jacket – you can see why the free spirit and underground culture of Manchester would appeal to her. “For me, Manchester is the city of music,” Viard said. “It incites creation.”

Prada’s Pradasphere II in Shanghai showcases the luxury fashion brand’s reach

“I’m always excited to find out where these shows take place and how they allow the surroundings to influence them,” Boynton said after the show. “[The choice of Manchester] was unexpected, but as soon as you put it together it makes sense, especially if you know Virginie and her appreciation of cultural influences. The show had such an exciting edge for such an iconically elegant brand that feels really truthful and authentic to Chanel and to Gabrielle Chanel herself who had this bold edge to her. I’ve already screenshot[ted] so many looks I hope to wear.”

How to get Monaco royal Charlotte Casiraghi’s Chanel show look

The show was another powerful statement from the quintessentially French luxury maison in spite of some sensational headlines in British tabloids of complaints about road closures and other disruptions to city life. Things on the ground told a very different story. Conversation after conversation with locals ranging from shopkeepers to students showed how grateful and proud Mancunians were that Chanel picked their town for this show. Not only did the event support Manchester’s economy, but it also helped celebrate a “second city” that is actually second to none and has plenty to offer for those looking for true grit and a touch of glamour.