Couture – Atelier. Chanel AW16

July 9, 2016July 9, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Chanel venue productions are always over-the-top fancy, and always too unreal. But for autumn-winter 2016, Karl Lagerfeld decided to make his haute couture show an actual haute couture atelier. The legendary petites mains from Rue Cambon were transported to Grand Palais with all their sewing machines, becoming a living and breating setting for the models.

“Behind the girls in the show, there are 200 more who make what they wear—that’s quite a lot, no?—and I thought we should show them to the public too.” For this season’s couture, Chanel praised the women who are behind all the coveted tweed pantsuits, duchesse satin dresses and floriform embroidery. However, it seems like the heart of the house was exposed to the crowd; the intimacy of couture-making was disturbed for good, being suddenly photographed and tagged for social media. And surely, producing such venue is a desperate move to steal the spotlight.

But let’s not forget about the clothes, or rather wearable pieces of art. Although first looks were very classical and very Coco, the gowns which were emerging from the “atelier” oozed with drama. Black, tulle gown worn by Molly Bair with an exaggerated collar looked spectacular, while Edie Campbell’s closing look, so an embellished, pink coat with feathers on the back, was ethereal. The concept is ambiguous; the dresses are great. Quite average, as for Chanel.

Cuba. Chanel Resort 2017

May 5, 2016May 23, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

On Monday, Karl Lagerfeld took his cool ladies, like Tilda Swinton and Carine Roitfeld, to Cuba, and not to the fussy MET Gala filled with cheesy Balmain-gowns and Kim K klan. In fact, everybody thought that Manus x Machina event in New York, and its “galore”, would dim Chanel – but all eyes were on swirling, organza skirts and Stella Tennant’s chic show opening. Dressed in a classy Cubanos smoking, with over-sized collars and pantalons, the monochrome colour palette dynamically evolved into peach-pink and lemon-yellow silhouettes. Floaty dresses, 50s car prints on t-shirts and functional flip-flops – joy and easiness was perceivable along Paseo del Prado, scented with male models’ cigars which were smoked nonchalantly during their walk. Debutante dresses were all about the embroidered, slightly tattered sleeves, showing an homage to Hispanic ruffles which are so popular on the colourful streets of Havana. Even the show venue, a public street, didn’t feel like previous, slightly pretentious resort shows by Chanel – Ibeyi, French-Cuban twin-sisters, Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz performed a soulful, temperamental song just at the beginning of the show. By the end, models, guests, Cuban passersby and the designer himself, danced… and it all looked like a cheerful parade of wearble fashion and Latin attitude.

Of course, these clothes will cost their average, Chanel prices – but still, Karl and his team managed to pull it off in a casual way. Showing a Chanel collection on the streets of a communist country might be risky, and in effect look too distant and Euro-posh. But to my surprise, the collection was a laid-back line of carefree styling, without much of pressure on Cuba’s culture and references. Focusing on a diverse casting (big plus for the brand) and relaxed leisurewear, Lagerfeld has effortlessly started the Resort 2017 season – with grace, and in Cuban rythm.

Collage by me

Paris – Rome. Chanel Pre-Fall’16

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Staging a Chanel fashion show in Rome for Metiers d’Art collection (in other words, Pre-Fall 2016) wasn’t that clear at the first sight. However, Karl Lagerfeld had a very reasonable answer for his decision – only a few know that in the 50’s, Coco Chanel designed for the incredible, classy actresses like Jeanne Moreau, Anouk Aimée, Monica Vitti, and Romy Schneider, all of whom starred in Italian movies by Visconti and Pasolini wearing her chic tweeds and dresses. As you might know, I was recently very skeptic about Karl’s last few collections for the legendary Parisian house – the glossy, Cara Delevigne-packed model squad and Instagram-moment venues made Chanel a brand which rather looked towards media, than the clothes. However, this time, Karl showed a graceful collection, which was fully focused on the clothes. The serene, moody setting of an Italian cinema was a perfect background for the film noir lace dresses, masculine coats, leather “pasta” embroideries (this part makes me love Lessage studio even more – they made my favourite farfalle look absolutely great on a dress!) and sultry, leather pencil skirts and jackets. What caught everybody’s attention were the lace tights. They had a femme fatale atitude when worn with pointy Mary-Janes pumps. So Italian. So on point with the deliberately sexy and elusive theme of the entire collection. The hair, done by Sam McKnight, was all about messy beehives and the girls, with their smoky eyes, looked effortlessly glamorous, just like the icons of Italian cinema. Also, the model casting was just the right choice – the designer mixed the catwalk veterans, like Lara Stone and Freja Beha, with a diversity of newcomers – from Lineisy Montero, Molly Bair and Mica Arganaraz to Stella Lucia, Greta Varlese and Alexandra Elizabeth. You’re back on the good track, Karl!

HC – Fourrure. Fendi AW15

July 10, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

The last fourrure was presented 90 years ago. Two days ago, Karl Lagerfeld, the creative director of Fendi, showed the world what is the definite fur splendor. As the name fourrure might suggest, it is a haute couture collection which is utterly focused on… fur. Chinchilla, sable and mink were presented in form of long, floor-weeping coats, flesh explosing jumpsuit and amazingly detailed sweaters – and these were not only interesting because of the fact they were made from a fusion of cashmere and fluff, but because they were embellished with huge flowers, of course shaped from fur. The cape worn by Julia Nobis at the end of the show may have been all about feathers “transforming” into a silver-tipped skirt, which set our minds on a cross-species category search. PETA was set at bay during the fashion show – and all your furry fantasies became real.

HC – Casino. Chanel AW15

July 8, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

This season, Karl Lagerfeld took us to a casino in oder to show, that everybody there wear Chanel haute couture. Karl’s muse splash – Stella Tennant, Kristen Stewart, Lara Stone, Julianne Moore – gambled on the roulette tables while the models circled the spacious runway. But it seemed, that this what the models wore during the show was the least important. The whole event of a casino stole the spotlight and nobody really looked at the fashion part. Well, maybe because all those dresses, little (black) jackets and tweed skirts felt… boring? During the last few seasons, if talking of couture, Karl gives us the same idea behind the clothes. Classy, lady-like silhouettes without any fantasy. Just look back at the last few seasons. The scenarios of runways are always amazing and Instagram-worthy, but the dresses (and haute couture is mostly about beautiful dresses!) are being neglected.