Chanel Metiers d'Art: Models turn Manchester street into a catwalk

Celebrities, models and several hundred global fashionistas crammed into a Manchester street on Thursday as French luxury brand Chanel turned it into a catwalk for a prestigious fashion show.

Actors Kristen Stewart, Hugh Grant and Tilda Swinton were among the stars on Thomas Street in the city's Northern Quarter, as was director Sofia Coppola.

Models including Manchester's Karen Elson used the road as a catwalk, with its mixture of trendy bars and traditional shops providing the backdrop for the Metiers d'Art show.

The models and guests were protected from the pouring rain by a tall glass canopy that had been erected over the road for the occasion.

Chanel was attracted by the city's "creative energy" and musical history, director of fashion Bruno Pavlovsky said.

They opted for Manchester because "too many things happen in London and we wanted to be in the UK out of London," he told BBC News.

"We decided to come to Manchester because it was the most inspiring for Virginie [Viard, creative director]. She was inspired by the music and art that she sees here in Manchester, and we've had a warm welcome."

The show's soundtrack included Manchester bands like The Fall and New Order - two of whose members were in attendance, along with local rappers Aitch and Bugzy Malone.

There were also two Gallagher brothers - not Oasis stars Liam and Noel, but Liam's sons Gene and Lennon, as well as Noel's daughter Anais.

Also among the 600 attendees were actors Jenna Coleman, Callum Scott Howells, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Lucy Boynton, as were guests ranging from author Jeanette Winterson to Olivia Attwood Dack from Love Island to Taiwanese actress Gwei Lun-mei and Japan's Sakura Ando.

The stars soaked up the street's combination of history and hipness, posing for photos in the doorway of the long-standing Clark Brothers - a retail supply shop that few people would have previously given a second glance - and outside the Bay Horse Tavern pub.

Chanel took over some of the street's bars for the night. The pubs and shops had been closed for most of the past two weeks after the company moved in.

The guests watched the show from wooden tables that lined the street, which has a link to the birth of the modern textiles industry, having been built for small-scale workshops when the industrial revolution took off in the city in the 18th Century.

Whether by accident or design, that history tied in with the idea behind Chanel's Metiers d'Art show, which is to celebrate the skilled craftspeople and artisans that the company works with.

The event has been held in cities including Paris, New York, Rome, Dakar, Salzburg and Dallas in the past, and was last in the UK when it was staged at Linlithgow Castle in Scotland in 2012.

This year, the company said its collection focused on "the poetry of emotions with a dash of the sixties".

It added that "ideas of Great Britain" were represented in "wraparound skirts, miniskirts with godets, Bermuda shorts, shirts, coat-dresses all featured in tweed, knitwear in Shetland and cashmere".

There were also nods to Manchester's famous sporting pedigree, with one model sporting a scarf in Manchester United colours, and another wearing Chanel's version of a Manchester City shirt.

Guests who arrived a day early were taken to watch United beat Chelsea at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

They then went to a pre-show party at Salford Lads' Club, featuring a performance from Salford poet John Cooper Clarke.

On Thursday, an after-party took place at the historic Victoria Baths, the Manchester former swimming pool that was given a new lease of life after winning the BBC's Restoration programme in 2003.