In The Little Black Jacket, a collectable compendium of portraits of celebrities and fashion figures sporting Chanel tweeds that was published in 2012, there are 100 images but only 12 words. An opening quote, attributed to Argentine poet Roberto Juarroz, succinctly sums up the magic of its subject matter: “There are clothes that keep rejuvenating themselves instead of getting worn out.”
The collectible tome was a collaboration between Chanel’s designer at the time, Karl Lagerfeld, and über-stylist Carine Roitfeld. In graphic black and white, bold faces from Sarah Jessica Parker to Linda Evangelista to Roitfeld herself illustrate why the softly tailored blazer exists as one of high fashion’s evergreen essentials, a century-old example of Juarroz’s musings about sartorial immortality.
Today, the house’s current artistic director, Matthieu Blazy, is in the middle of his own reinvention of the definition of a Chanel jacket. “Chanel is a paradox. Chanel is function, Chanel is fiction. Chanel is sensible, Chanel is seductive. Chanel is day, Chanel is night,” he is quoted as saying in the fall/winter 2026 collection’s show notes.
To complement the collection’s drop-waist elements, Chanel artistic director Matthieu Blazy elongated blazers to create a contemporary take on a 1920s shape.
The palette of a work shirt’s open tweed evokes the colour scheme on the amphibious Grumman Goose that delivers guests to Nimmo Bay’s dock.
With its jewel-like buttons and rich texture, this look camouflages into the forest landscape.
In home decor circles, the suede sofa in Gabrielle Chanel’s Paris apartment is as legendary as the founder’s fashionable tweeds. Here, its supple texture inspires a cropped style with trench-coat-like flaps.
As outerwear, that versatility is translated into suede blouson bombers, drop-waist blazers and evening suits knit with thousands of pearls. They maintain many of the classic jacket’s signature details – flap pockets, gilt buttons and a discreet chain sewn into the inside of the hem to help maintain its silhouette – but play with shape, material and colour.
The most casual example is what Blazy calls a “work shirt,” an oversized piece that evokes the ease of a flannel button up worn around an early autumn campfire. Where better than the Nimmo Bay wilderness resort in the Great Bear Rainforest to capture it and every other rejuvenated option in the wild?
For the ultimate après-plunge warm-up at one of Nimmo Bay’s floating saunas, a shearling coat is an example of how Blazy layers a clean design language into an often playful lineup.
With its jewel-like buttons and rich texture, this look camouflages into the forest landscape.
For this skirt suit, miniature orbs are incorporated into the body material, braid details and fringed trim.
ON LOCATION
Little River Restaurant and Lounge at Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort.Supplied
Nimmo Bay
The first hint that a Nimmo Bay guest is in for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure sits on the tarmac at the little airport in Port Hardy, B.C. The eight-passenger Grumman Goose that makes the 30-minute flight into the Great Bear Rainforest is as much a boat as a plane. As you cruise toward K’we mountain, the resort’s array of six Monopoly game piece tidal cabins appears below (three other cottages are shaded in the woods nearby). After a quick U-turn, the pilot glides down to the shimmering water of Mackenzie Sound, skipping the aircraft along the sea. When the amphibious wonder slows down, it gently tilts to the left on one of its retractable floats, and the engine revs down to a gurgle as you pull up to a wide dock lined with the resort’s smiling staff.
The second hint is the angular architecture of the dining pavilion that stands behind them. Its contemporary façade is a far cry from the humble fishing camp that founder Craig Murray and his wife Deborah opened here in 1981, taking advantage of a thundering waterfall on the property to power their dreams of an immersive wilderness escape. Over the next couple of days, it will become your clubhouse: a space for hearty breakfasts, evening martinis shaken with ocean brine or boarding a Bond villain-worthy catamaran destined for a day on a floating sauna.
That type of experience is the third hint. These moments can be as elaborate as you can dream – helicoptering to the top of the Klinaklini glacier; spending the day diving for urchins and sea cucumbers that a chef incorporates into a private meal served at an open-water dining table. They can also be a simple surprise like being invited to quietly boat across the bay with a set of binoculars to spy on a mother grizzly and her pair of cubs.
For many of Nimmo Bay’s guests, all these elements mean a visit isn’t, in fact, a once-in-a-lifetime experience at all. According to Fraser Murray, Craig and Deborah’s son, and his wife, Becky, who assumed management of the resort in 2011, a quarter of visitors who make the flight from May to October are returning guests. While the vistas remain remarkably untouched, the on-site perks are updated each season. A floating massage room debuted this summer and a sauna that can be airlifted into remote landscapes is in the works for 2027. “I like to make a place that’s welcoming and comfortable for someone who’s not used to this environment,” Fraser says. “And then allow them to slowly inch their way into the wild.”
For more, visit nimmobay.com
All clothing and accessories by Chanel (chanel.com). Makeup and hair by Julie Cusson for Chanel using Les 4 Ombres eyeshadow in shade 308 Clair-Obscur, Rouge Coco lipstick in shade 106 Deauville and Le Vernis nail polish in shade 103 Légende, all available at Chanel (chanel.com). Model: Elaina Winslow-Hansen at Family Management. Photo assistant: Yohan Kim. Photographed at the Nimmo Bay resort in BC (nimmobay.com).
The Globe and Mail Style Magazine travelled as a guest of Chanel and Nimmo Bay, which did not review or approve this article. Stories are based on merit; The Globe does not guarantee coverage.