Cosmopolitan Elegance. Chanel Pre-Fall 2017

April 25, 2023January 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

On Monday, May 1st, the 2023 Met Gala will take place. This year’s Costume Institute exhibition, “A Line of Beauty,” will celebrate the oeuvre and life of Karl Lagerfeld. The exhibition will see Andrew Bolton and Wendy Yu, curators in charge, examine the work of Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019). Throughout his lifetime, Lagerfeld worked at prominent fashion houses such as Balmain, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, in addition to founding his namesake brand. More than 150 pieces will be on display in the exhibition, many of which will be accompanied by Lagerfeld’s sketches. In the following days, I will look back at my all-time favorite Chanel collections, designed by the one & only Karl. Hope some of these magnificent looks will end up on the red carpet on the first Monday in May…

“The Ritz is very gilded,” said Karl Lagerfeld, gesturing toward the decor of the newly refurbished Paris hotel as he held court on a plush velvet couch in the lobby. “Look, white with gold!” Sparkle, sequins, gold metallics, even gold-dipped feathers naturally became a festive-looking thread in the Chanel Métiers d’Art 2017 collection. Coco Chanel famously lived at the Ritz from 1937 throughout World War II, and died here in 1971. The house of Chanel is steps away from the hotel’s back door, on the Rue Cambon. Lagerfeld’s angle, though, wasn’t the life of Chanel herself, but, he emphasized, “cosmopolitan elegance and people from all over the world who’ve come to the Ritz. There were hundreds of dinners in the ’20s and ’30s, where women wore incredible things. But you cannot tell from the collection what decade it is, and I think that is modern, no?” The brilliantly chic show, which was served up in three sittings at lunch, tea, and dinnertime, sent a mixed bunch of lanky models, “daughters-of,” and Pharrell Williams winding their way around tables in the hotel lobby and a specially built “Jardin d’Hiver.” It made sense as a ready-made scene without any need for flown-in props. The Ritz is exactly where the international high-rolling couture customers billet themselves while shopping in Paris. Hair up in net veils decorated with roses, the girls pranced at a clip in midi skirts and Lurex pedal pushers, bubble-shaped capes, and square-shouldered jackets. There were skinny knit silvery dresses, a gorgeous white lace poet-sleeved blouse with a black leather cape and pants, a navy sheared mink tailored coat piped in gold leather, and tiered skirts flouncing out from narrow dropped-waist bodices. It was less a look than a cocktail menu of individual styles, really. But as Lagerfeld put it, that is the measure of the distance between Coco Chanel’s time and ours. “In those days, even to the ’60s, there were one or two designers who dictated what everyone wore. That is not the case today, when there are thousands of images of fashion available, so anyone can choose to wear what suits her.” Just as long as they belong to the Chanel glitterati, in this case.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Chanel AF. Chanel SS’97 Couture

April 19, 2023April 21, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

First up is the stunning spring-summer 1997 haute couture collection. It’s a Lagerfeld collection that can be simply summed up as “Chanel af“. Behind the scenes, Amanda Harlech, a trusted arbiter of taste, jumped from Dior to Chanel just in time to put finishing touches on a collection of what Karl Lagerfeld described as nonexistent dresses and exploded shoes. “It’s hysterical Chanel,” the designer said. Harlech expanded on that, telling Hamish Bowles, “It’s about Chanel proportions and luxury pushed to absolute nervous-breakdown extremes!” Just as the rooms he showed in at the Ritz were veiled with tulle, so Lagerfeld wrapped his creations in luxury, replacing buttons with real pearls or diamond camellia clip brooches. Adding a sense of fun were the dramatic headpieces by Philip Treacy, some of which bobbed atop heads like antennae tuned into chic. There were LBDs galore, along with wide-legged pantsuits, however the “unbearable lightness of being” Lagerfeld was after was to be found in the evening looks, many with silhouettes that nodded to the late ’20s and early ’30s—Coco Chanel’s own heyday. Shalom Harlow wore the collection’s pièce de résistance: a feather-white strapless confection, which looked as if it were crafted from air. Over a stem of pale chiffon, the atelier had constructed a 3-D “cage” of many, many camellias made of sequins, and then cut the fabric ground away so that it resembled a Wilson Bentley photograph of a snowflake or the tracery of a stained glass window. Possibly, that’s one of the chicest collection ever in fashion history.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Ethereal. Danielle Frankel AW23

April 16, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

The world of Danielle Frankel‘s bridal-wear redefines that whole fashion category, making it feel truly a dream. A wedding dress coming from Frankel’s atelier is a chef’s kiss. Just take a look at her latest offering. The opening look of the New York-based designer’s autumn-winter 2023 collection is a sleeveless dress featuring a silk wool twill bodice with an architectural mock neck, and corset-like details that wrap around the waist to meet a hand-cut lace-decorated linen organza skirt with an exaggerated tulip shape that falls to the ankle. It is light as air, and accessorized with an oversized straw hat decorated with hundreds of tiny flowers. The look is simultaneously evocative of another time while being grounded in the now. “I like to look back a lot more than what’s going on currently,” the designer said. “I was looking at a lot of the New Look; Dior, Balenciaga, and that era where you had these really dramatic silhouettes – but we’re making a contemporary version of that.” She nailed it – it’s rare to see such brilliant takes on the fashion history classics today. Frankel’s designs radiate with refinement, but also with an eternally youthful spirit: many of the looks consisted of mini-dresses worn over ankle-grazing skirts (perhaps to ensure these pieces get to be worn long after their walk down the aisle). A shiny silk wool spaghetti-strap mini dress with Chantilly lace appliqué at the hem and a matching maxi skirt worn with a silk cashmere mock neck sweater, its sleeves scrunched up to make way for dramatic opera-length gloves, recalled that favorite ’90s combo of a baby tee worn underneath a vintage satin slip dress, only more elegant. There was also a bit of the ’90s in a spaghetti strap column dress covered in Chantilly lace and ivory organza strips whose hand-frayed edges gave the impression of a very delicate fur. These looks are bridal because they are white, and delicate, and formal; but they could just as well be part of an everyday-wardrobe if they were made in other colors or fabrics. A boxy matte silk wool men’s tuxedo was another modern addition. Elsewhere, pieces made from genuine baroque pearls embroidered unto transparent sequins were simultaneously opulent and minimalist. So, who’s planning a wedding this year?!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Holiday Album. Meryll Rogge AW23

April 15, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

The comedy (and drama) of a family portrait is one of the concepts that informed Meryll Rogge’s autumn-winter 2023 collection. Called “The Holiday Album“, it was inspired by a variety of sources, from Home Alone to Rogge’s very personal memories of Y2k – the event and the aesthetic. The Belgian designer’s latest collection included a group of ski-thermal pieces including a body-con dress and bodysuit with unexpected pockets that complimented the more directly ski and apres-ski looks, like quilted nylon outerwear and tulle-padded pants. The snowiest and most luxe piece was a hand-worked upcycled shearling coat. Only a few will be made. What was notable about the suiting this season was the trouser silhouette; Rogge opted for cigarette – or in the context of this collection, maybe peppermint stick is a better description – legs. Those grays were overpowered by the more vibrant and extravagant party looks. Known for her hybrid pieces, the designer not only fused tartan to denim jeans, but added a sort of fishtail or kick hem, revealing the lining that flutters as the wearer walks. Plaids were also made into more pajama-like looks. Conifers seemed to have inspired the A-line shapes, while Christmas tree tinsel was translated into crinkled metallics and satins, and many pieces were ornamented with large, dense, sequins. One of the best bits of the offering was a deconstructed dress in pink satin with mismatched vintage buttons. Roses stood in for poinsettias, too obvious a reference, the designer said, and they added dimensionality and fun to a pair of Rudolf-red briefs and a glorious, hand-embroidered dress with a Poiret-like silhouette. There was even a boxy “present” dress of red Lurex, the most literal take on the theme. This kind of very eclectic, general incoherence made sense in light of the (now very well exhausted) Y2K theme, and because holidays bring disparate family members (chosen or real) together.

Here are some of my favourite Meryll Rogge pieces you can shop right now:

Meryll Rogge blue and white shirt

Meryll Rogge beige trousers

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Goth-y Funk. Chopova Lowena AW23

April 9, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Chopova Lowena‘s style is a fine balance of alluring quirkiness and astonishingly great craftsmanship. For autumn-winter 2023, Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena went for their signature, funky eclecticism. The collection sees a ’70s ski-theme that somehow got caught up with Georgian petticoats, bloomers, cross-lacing, and bonnets. Trust the London-based designers to turn such a bonkers combo into an extensive collection of clothes and accessories that are at the service of cold-weather practicality as well as… fun. They’ve played with the idea of retro children’s patterned ski suits and sleepwear to come up with high-waisted checkered pajama-cum-snowboarding trousers, baby-bedsheet prints, and the piped-pocket detailing that made the whole recognizably Chopova Lowena. Genius cardigans – some with vintage baby-book doll characters dancing on the front, others threaded through with tartan ribbon tied in bows – evoke some sort of deranged Tyrolean classic, possibly an ode to one of Vivienne Westwood‘s signature looks. There are layers and layers to explore here, from heavy-duty brown leather ‘carabiner jackets,’ through ski-capris with frilly knees, stripy wool scarves, tights, and knotted-top beanies, all the way through to stuff that sorts out how a Chopova Lowena person parties – which is to say in lacy white and bows, but with a definite Goth-y attitude.