Karaoke or the catwalk – what’s your choice? (Pictures: SWNS/Twitter)
Chanel’s annual Metiers d’art fashion show descended on Manchester’s Northern Quarter on Thursday night, and local residents were not happy.
The runway extravaganza began in 2001 and has visited cities all over the world, including Mumbai, New York, and Hamburg – in 2023, it was Manchester’s turn.
On the guest list were the likes of Hugh Grant and his wife Anna, Twilight actress Kristen Stewart, and Tilda Swinton, along with more of the biggest names in fashion and modelling.
But it appears the show’s organisers didn’t scope out the local area as thoroughly as you’d expect, with karaoke-focused protests erupting just 50 yards away.
Preparations on the NQ’s Thomas Street began weeks ago, with parts of the area closed off as a giant glass canopy was erected over the narrow, bustling road.
However, those local to the area, and those patronising its numerous pubs and bars, thoroughly rejected Chanel’s orders to keep the noise down.
The Millstone is famous (and infamous) with Manchester locals (Picture: TripAdvisor)
Would Hugh or Tilda fancy giving Lady In Red a go? (Picture: Getty)
Leading the noise-fest was Thomas Street’s notorious Millstone pub, which instead decided to crank up the volume and disrupt the glitz and glamour.
The Millstone is famous for offering a ‘traditional’ night out, with locals reporting that the establishment is known for its deafeningly loud karaoke and 1am fights, as well as copious amounts of booze.
A video posted onto X (formerly Twitter) showed that the sheer volume of one man’s rendition of Chris De Burgh’s Lady In Red made it onto the streets outside.
In the clip, posted by Manchester’s Finest, the person holding the camera took just eight seconds to walk from the fashion show to the famous tavern.
Local news reported that the pub’s brewer, JW Lees, invited the famous attendees to ‘sample some excellent beer and some top-notch Manchester hospitality’.
Northern Quarter residents also revealed to local reporters that they’d started receiving letters weeks ago, telling them to keep it quiet on the big night.
Hugh Grant would have been allowed on the karaoke! (Picture: Twitter)
‘We were told not to go on our balconies and to keep our curtains shut during the show,’ one person claimed – it appears those orders weren’t adhered to.
The Chanel show was also the scene of a pro-Palestine picket, with protesters waving the nation’s flags and chanting ‘free Palestine’ near to the runway.
Elsewhere in Manchester, fans thought they’d spotted Kate Moss taking a shopping trip around a nearby Aldi store on Thursday hours before the Chanel show, only to find out it was a prank.
A paparazzo named Dave tweeted: ‘Shoppers at Aldi thought they saw Kate Moss shopping in Manchester, in fact it was a Fake Moss stunt.’
Local reporters then verified the claims of a prank, while a local resident admitted they’d wondered why Kate Moss would wear sunglasses on a winter day.
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Never ask the Millstone to keep it down.