Kendrick Lamar is the best thing to happen to Chanel

In Instagram posts, Twitter threads, and Tiktok videos, online fashion commentators have long since found Virginie Viard the perfect villain against whom to lash out after every Chanel show. A script that was also staged a few days ago, after the French brand showed in Paris during Couture Week. With the exception of one dog, which was brought to the runway despite not looking particularly enthusiastic, the collection was once again inundated with criticism, especially from those who, once again, questioned what the designer's imagined direction for the brand was. What caught the eye, however, was not only the varied patterns brought to the runway by Viard but the presence of the guests Kendrick Lamar. Definitely, the last person we would have expected to see at a Chanel show.

Pearl necklace, tweed jacket, and CC logo in full view, Kendrick made his appearance somewhat like a superhero arriving to save the day. But unlike Superman, unrecognizable in his alter-ego Clark Kent, K.Dot proved to be completely comfortable even in an outfit far removed from the ones we are usually used to seeing him in. If in 2017 Pharrell had been the first male lead in a Chanel campaign starting a relationship that would last for years reaching the present day, the one with Kendrick was born in much more recent times. Somewhat like his recent style liaison with Martine Rose, much of the credit here must be given to stylist Taylor McNeill, who has long since taken K.Dot to another level, pairing him with designers as diverse as they are surprisingly suited to the Compton rapper.

So, after Martine Rose, Balenciaga, and Willy Chavarria, Kendrick also managed to make a good impression in a Chanel tweed jacket in the company of DaveFree, director of the rapper's latest live films, and showing up in a custom baseball jersey that has already become the object of desire of half the internet. If a few months ago we appealed to the styling possibilities offered by Chanel garments as a lifeline for Viard's creations, today we rely on Kendrick Lamar's ability to make us feel a strange attraction to those photos of his Chanel look. Especially, after the brand brought Timothée Chalamet to its side with a Martin Scorsese-directed campaign, the gradual rapprochement between K.Dot and the French brand could further ignite the flame toward that always-troubled menswear. There has been Pharrell indeed, who has also collaborated with Chanel over the years, but Siphesihle November, principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, is also another prime example of the male audience's passion for the brand's tweed jackets. What we wonder is why, instead of throwing celebrities of the caliber of Margot Robbie, Brie Larson, and Kristen Stewart to social criticism for their very uninspired Chanel looks, the brand doesn't let Kendrick and her new phase as a fashion icon perfectly fit into Fashion Weeks. The hope, because that's what it's all about at the moment, is to see K.Dot testimonial for the French fashion house's next campaign. Let's keep our fingers crossed.