Karl Lagerfeld’s couture outing for Chanel this season represented a gentle reflection of the softer side of the fashion industry, and not just the gossamer fine silks that made up a portion of his Spring 2016 collection.
Instead everything was coming up roses and astroturf at Chanel, where the luxury fashion juggernaut set up a spectacular that would make even Cecil B DeMille blush, constructing a slatted wood pavilion which fed into zen gardens and lily ponds in the Grand Palais.
This delicate setting became the stage for a steady stream of demure eco-couture and also emerged as quite the departure from the last few creative Chanel milieus such as the airport, the supermarket and the casino.
The modest powdery colourways, low-key though they were, became no match for the shapes, something which Lagerfeld relished in this season. Raiding the sustainable shelf the designer brought fragments of wood, recycled paper and eco-friendly woven yarn into the mix, embellishing, beading and hitching garments up with components along these earthy lines.
Making the world of couture environmentally conscious in one fell swoop Chanel puffed up the sleeves of airy bouclé suits with a new eagerness and gave florals a new vibrancy. I guess this is what one gets when luxury starts taking more note of the world around it.
The proof of the quality was all there as usual, in every frilled and laced by hand fibre, with endless other fine couture touches finely encrusted within the inner workings of all 75 or so looks. The bridal gown, a practical commemoration of all that is old, new and still exciting about the chambre syndicale de la Haute Couture was a spellbinding way to top it all off.
You must hand it to Lagerfeld as well that in a world when one easily comes to the assumption that all has been said and done when it comes to couture, he can still find a way to give it a new edge yet again.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Chanel