Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2011

All of Karl’s muses were at the show in the Grand Palais on Tuesday. Claudia Schiffer, Lilly Allen, Vanessa Paradis and Alexa Chung. Besides one of Karl’s former male muses, Brad Koening walked in the show with his little son, both in matching Chanel outfits. Also, there were three generations of models walking the show. Karl: ‘Inez is model of the 80s, Stella is the model of the 90s , Freja is the model of today’.

The décor of the show, inspired by the movie Last Year at Marienbad, was once again breath-taking. After the iceberg of last season, this time there was a fountain surrounded by a monochrome garden and an orchestra of 80 musicians.

For his clothes Karl said he’d used all kinds of new materials and new techniques. Those gave his designs a modern twist. ‘If you would have made the same dresses in classic materials they would have looked old’, he said.

Still almost every outfit looked unfinished. The cropped jackets, narrow skirts and sheer dresses had ragged edges and perforations. Karl changed the fake fur of last season into feathers and lace. He also showed some tweed patchwork.

The color palette had pastels in it, but also a lot of black mixed with bright colors. ‘We didn’t do colorblocking, cause we’ve now seen that quite a few times’, Karl said. Still he managed to present a great collection with a young and modern twist.