Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Womenswear FW2016

Everyone seated at Chanel had a front row seat to witness every single one of the 92 outfits passing by at the Grand Palais Tuesday morning. No iceberg, Supermarket or airport to distract us from the clothing this time around. Back to err..basic, although every guest still had a gold painted chair awaiting them. At least Karl made sure our eyes were all on those bright pink opening looks. A selection of Chanel classic; tweed skirt suits decorated by multiple pearl necklaces. Update though, by touches of denim, riding boots and leather-brimmed boaters. After the pink an array of gray and off white looks appeared, followed by touches of camel, metallic, black and white. Heavy winter wool, leather and a type of multi colored fake fur gave the collection it’s rich touch, as did the gloves, the bags (some attached to the models’ belts – as seen at Prada) and the delicate jewelry. There were coats we could live in and off shoulder party dresses you’d never want to take off. Yet we doubt whether those silly hats will ever really become a thing..

Chanel Haute Couture Fashion Show Paris FW2015

“I gamble with collections more than ever”, Karl told Style.com after his latest haute couture show. And so he decided to turn the Grand Palais into a casino and invited celebrity friends like Vanessa Paradis, Julianne Moore, Rita Ora and Kirsten Stewart to take their chances, dressed in customized Chanel couture gowns, of course. Then in came the models in their tweed suits, outer space hairdos, red lips, red cheeks and heavy eyebrows to match. Epaulettes drew our eyes to the shoulders of the box shaped suit jackets. Nothing too shocking apart from the fact that Karl got some extra help on the sketching and cutting. Not because the designer is getting lazy, but because he’s always one step ahead of the trends. So it won’t be long before we wear quilted tule dresses with crystal embroideries. Or sparkling flapper dresses with standing collars. Not to mention that structured pale pink and black overcoat. If it’s up to Karl we’ll soon wear white suits and a veil to our wedding. He conveniently got Kendall Jenner, daughter of recently turned transgender Caithlin Jenner (before Bruce Jenner) to show how that genderblending wedding thing goes as she put an end to an early morning of roulette.

Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2015

The Chanel staged looked like Brasserie Gabrielle, a place where the foreign-born proprietor celebrates the innate Franco traditions of diversity, resulting in debate and most of all, style. Guests arrived to the Grand Palais, transformed into a vast brasserie with all polished wood, leather and brass atop an intricate faux-mosaic floor, yet another manifestation of the power-fashion fusion that is Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel.
There were senses of both classic Chanel and classicism upended. Suits, some with blouson jackets, were crafted from puffed squares of paper-thin leather; others, in tweedy plaids, featured skirts with deep bias borders. But Lagerfeld also made a big show of sportif, as in separates, Chanel-style: patterned sweaters and skirts under glittering parkas; sweater, skirt; cardigan layered over classic jacket and jeans; V-neck pullover stretched into a sweater gown.
There was even a riff on workwear: short and long takes on waiters’ aprons (tweed or embroidered; never white) tied on over pants. Into the mix, Lagerfeld incorporated young, fresh trapeze LBDs; frou in black and white; and, in a pret-meets-haute moment, a huge triangle coat in a plain gray wool and jeweled feathers.

Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear FW2014

This morning Karl Lagerfeld turned his show venue into a large Chanel supermarket where models, dressed in the latest creations of the French fashion house, did their weekly shopping. And of course it wasn’t just any supermarket. Karl made sure everything was customized CC, from the Coco flakes, the Tagliatelle mademoiselle and the Eau de Chanel to the shopping carts. Grocerie shopping never was this chic. And though all we wanted was to get our hands on those designer groceries (after the show the venue was completely plundered until all shelves were empty) we had to try and focus on the clothes. Leggings and crop tops with turtle necks, worn with metallic sneakers and oversize tweed coats at first. Tweed ensembles and checked skirt suits with sporty sneaker boots later on. Followed by monochrome all leather looks, by metallic creations, rainbow bright prints and girly pink designs. All decorated by large chain accessories, fur details, sunglasses, pearls and grocery baskets as the new it-bags for 2014. Shapes were long and lean as well as cartoon shaped. It was a little bit of everything for everyone really, yet what the designs had in common was their wearability. Nothing too tight, too crispy clean or too over thought. Just a selection of casual clothing anyone would wear on a trip to the supermarket.. Almost…

Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris Womenswear SS2014

The set Lagerfeld built for the Chanel show mimicked an art-gallery opening whose white walls were dominated by paintings and sculptures inspired by the iconography of Chanel. An oversize quilted handbag was installed on a wall with its chain-link strap trailing down onto the floor. An impressionistic painting of a two-tone Chanel pump hung on one wall; and, a little farther down the way, there were paintings of camellias.
Among the multitude of characters and story lines fueling Lagerfeld’s runway show were: the starving artist, the artistic life, and art itself. Gray, square-collared dresses suggested the faded smocks of a romanticized artist living in a garret; paint-“splattered” dresses recalled the working artist; tidy suits made one think of the unabashed wealth of the art patron. And graffiti backpacks and offbeat styling – such as Technicolor eyeshadow — called to mind the arty gamine.
Lagerfeld made his clothes as diverse, and as thrilling to look at, as his ‘art’. cialis canada pharmacy The ideas came at a rapid-fire pace.There were some motifs to be extracted: two-paneled skirts with side zippers; wide-cut, paper-thin leather pants; shrunken sweaters worn as multiples, including as a neck scarf; shoes with attached ribbed socks, and endless surface revelry. This included painterly ombré grays, lavish tweeds (and embroideries masquerading as tweeds), plastic-painted lace, raffia braiding etc.

Chanel Haute Couture Paris SS2013

At Chanel couture the feeling was fairytale like, yet scary at the same time. Dressed in perfect light shaded lace ensembles Lagerfeld’s models walked his path through the green. Their eyes dark and decorated with feathers, their faces hidden behind large droopy headpieces. They were classy ladies dressed in playful volume skirts and ribbon tweeds jackets. And how chic were those over the knee lace boots?! After hemlines dropped a few inches (midcalf length) and Lagerfeld added color in form of floral embroideries, evening dresses appeared both chic and dramatic. Evening dresses and two wedding dresses at the end that might just include Lagerfeld’s thought on the momentarily much discussed gay marriage in France.

Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris SS2013

He did a very non sustainable thing a few seasons ago by shipping that ginormous iceberg to Paris, yet Lagerfeld is fully focused on sustainability now. At least, so it seemed at Chanel’s SS2013 show at the Grand Palais. Fake windmills and a catwalk painted with the image of solar panels formed the backdrop for the collection presentation.

Chanel’s image for spring started off with classic looks; skirt suits and strapless dresses decorated with pearls. Pearls that kept popping up throughout the entire show. A show filled with renewed loose fitting Chanel suits.

Tweed fabrics, the usual suspects at Chanel, were done in bright, almost fluorescent shades, which added a young touch to the collection. Plexi glass hats to match. Mesh, patent leather and even denim made up for some unexpected creations. A sheer CC bathing suit was given a little more ‘body’ by an enormous Chanel beach bag, which had straps as large as hula hoops.

Designs were decorated by large collars, cute windmill appliqués and floral 3D embroideries. An eastern twist was given by colorful folded origami windmills on several sheer black looks. They were followed by a few quilted pieces as a series of white dresses closed the show.

Karl once again succeeded in reviving Chanel’s archive pieces with a welcome youthful, sporty and Eastern inspired touch.

Chanel Haute Couture Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

New Vintage, was the name of the haute couture collection Karl Lagerfeld presented yesterday. Because Vintage is soooo depressing Lagerfeld thinks. New Vintage is something to come, he states. Well, the clothes had a 1940’s line—broad shoulders, swingy coat, cape backs—in a color palette of black, gray, silver, and dusty pink that spoke of film noir interiors. The hair also had a forties flavor. The spine of the collection was suits, he paired them with sparkling legwear and wove silver through his “tweeds.”

Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

Besides the impressive front row (which today featured stars like Katy Perry, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Elisa Sednaoui and Poppy Delevingne) the second best thing about a Chanel fashion show is it’s backdrop. This morning enormous translucent amethyst crystals filled the Grand Palais show area. They formed the inspiration for modern 3D pieces, like coats and dresses with multifaceted bodices in multiple shades. And actually the crystals were visible in every little part of the show. From the models crystal heels, to their shiny velvet pants, up to their shimmering jackets, enormous brooches, luxurious necklaces and their crystallized brows. Besides his classical, usual suspects (tweed coats and twinsets) Karl Lagerfeld added some modern items, like cigarette pants, leggings and multicolored graphic knitted sweaters (we even spotted a knit hoodie!). They made the collection feel younger and fresher than before. The extremely talented designer even proved you can never be too young for Chanel by sending a little boy out on the runway sporting a quilted Chanel bag (yet another Chanel highlight).

 

 

 

 

 

Chanel Catwalk Fashion Show Paris FW2012

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