Chanel and Lagerfeld find pre-fall inspiration from India
January 6, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE 2012 pre-fall look seems to be all about exotic. Karl Lagerfeld kicks it off with his Paris-Bombay collection, which he says was inspired by Indian menswear. Jason Wu has also been inspired by Indian culture with his latest collection. Plus Nicole Miller launches a separate label for sportswear. Chanel
Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld laid out a sumptuous, Indian-flavored fashion spectacle so transporting that one could well imagine being in the faded palace of a maharaja rather than some forgotten wing of the Grand Palais.
Guests sat facing each other at long tables set for high tea, while a central buffet groaned under the weight of candelabras, tiered fruit platters, jars of sweets and jasmine spilling out of silver vases. On its periphery, a small silver steam train - adorned with double-C logos - circled with its freight of liquor in crystal decanters.
Around this bounty, Lagerfeld paraded his Paris-Bombay collection - full of luxury clothes that were just as rich and appetizing. Avoiding the gaudy flash of Bollywood and other cliches of India, he stuck mainly to an imperial theme, borrowing heavily from the costumes of princely rulers and referencing colonial times, too. Except for the odd shot of fuchsia and an intoxicating petrol blue, the colors on the runway closely resembled what was laid on the table: pots of clotted cream and jam, burnished silver trays and antique gold flatware.
"It's the Paris version of the idea of India," Lagerfeld added. "It's not a trip for documentation. I'm against reality. My life is already a reality show."
Coco Chanel's fondness for Indian jewelry is well known, but with his encyclopedic knowledge of her design canon, Lagerfeld found more fodder. "In the late 1950s, early 1960s, she designed several Indian-inspired outfits - and that was enough," he said.
While Lagerfeld has never been to India, he summoned the refinement of a culture still largely untouched, using the couture ateliers Chanel owns to full effect. "Most of the inspiration is from Indian men's clothes rather than women's clothes. They're easier to wear," he noted.
He opened the show with a suite of terrific tweed dresses and coats flecked with metallic thread and rough-hewn embroideries.
Terrific sweaters in black or ivory with jewel-like embroideries grounded the collection in reality, while a series of cream dresses with handkerchief hems and delicate, hand-painted floral motifs were the summit of haute dreaminess. Nicole Miller
After looking at her separates in a new light, Nicole Miller has been inspired to single out her sportswear, giving it a separate label. "We started photographing clothes on interns and people around the office, and having them style themselves, so they would take our dress and wear it with their army jacket," Miller said, adding that she then circulated some of the photos online. "We got a huge jump in Internet sales right away. It just evolved into this Artelier collection."
The new lineup will make its official retail launch for spring, but this month Miller presented Artelier's pre-fall looks for the first time as an individual collection. Her inspiration ranged from Sharon Stone's character in "The Quick and the Dead" to the work of the New Zealand jewelry designer Nick Von K, particularly his penchant for wings and skulls. The clothes had a Southwestern vibe "without being cowboy," Miller noted, referring to tie-dye, eagle and western prints, fringe details and feathers; the latter appeared on the shoulder of a draped and twisted dress, as well as on the lapel of an embossed leather python jacket. There was also a waxed coat and a coated canvas poncho.
There was more than just fashion behind this move. Over the years, Miller had built a significant sportswear business in specialty boutiques, but department stores largely typecast her as a dress resource for the fifth floor. Sensing an untapped potential for growth, she and chief executive officer Bud Konheim aimed to correct the notion, thus creating Artelier. Jason Wu
"Charley Harper meets the maharaja" is how Jason Wu described his pre-fall collection, which was inspired by the illustrator's wildlife work and translated in rich jewel tones and refined embroidery and beading. "It's taking two very different kind of exuberances into one collection," Wu noted.
The lineup included tiny floral prints or rich brocades on dresses, a beaded houndstooth pattern on a skirt, fine leaf embroideries on chiffon blouses and a structured camel hair cape with black botanical beading on the shoulders. Wu also introduced the "Daphne" bag - a supple leather frame handbag named after the model Daphne Groeneveld. Oscar de la Renta
Never one to skimp on a pre-collection, Oscar de la Renta staged a full-scale runway production for pre-fall, complete with 58 looks. Day clothes began in graphic black-and-white patterns and then moved into a deep garnet color (on leathers, laces and tweeds) and jewel-tone geometric prints. It was a rich visual display - the outerwear in particular - tinged with Russian bourgeois courtesy and an abundance of oversize cabochon jewels.
Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld laid out a sumptuous, Indian-flavored fashion spectacle so transporting that one could well imagine being in the faded palace of a maharaja rather than some forgotten wing of the Grand Palais.
Guests sat facing each other at long tables set for high tea, while a central buffet groaned under the weight of candelabras, tiered fruit platters, jars of sweets and jasmine spilling out of silver vases. On its periphery, a small silver steam train - adorned with double-C logos - circled with its freight of liquor in crystal decanters.
Around this bounty, Lagerfeld paraded his Paris-Bombay collection - full of luxury clothes that were just as rich and appetizing. Avoiding the gaudy flash of Bollywood and other cliches of India, he stuck mainly to an imperial theme, borrowing heavily from the costumes of princely rulers and referencing colonial times, too. Except for the odd shot of fuchsia and an intoxicating petrol blue, the colors on the runway closely resembled what was laid on the table: pots of clotted cream and jam, burnished silver trays and antique gold flatware.
"It's the Paris version of the idea of India," Lagerfeld added. "It's not a trip for documentation. I'm against reality. My life is already a reality show."
Coco Chanel's fondness for Indian jewelry is well known, but with his encyclopedic knowledge of her design canon, Lagerfeld found more fodder. "In the late 1950s, early 1960s, she designed several Indian-inspired outfits - and that was enough," he said.
While Lagerfeld has never been to India, he summoned the refinement of a culture still largely untouched, using the couture ateliers Chanel owns to full effect. "Most of the inspiration is from Indian men's clothes rather than women's clothes. They're easier to wear," he noted.
He opened the show with a suite of terrific tweed dresses and coats flecked with metallic thread and rough-hewn embroideries.
Terrific sweaters in black or ivory with jewel-like embroideries grounded the collection in reality, while a series of cream dresses with handkerchief hems and delicate, hand-painted floral motifs were the summit of haute dreaminess. Nicole Miller
After looking at her separates in a new light, Nicole Miller has been inspired to single out her sportswear, giving it a separate label. "We started photographing clothes on interns and people around the office, and having them style themselves, so they would take our dress and wear it with their army jacket," Miller said, adding that she then circulated some of the photos online. "We got a huge jump in Internet sales right away. It just evolved into this Artelier collection."
The new lineup will make its official retail launch for spring, but this month Miller presented Artelier's pre-fall looks for the first time as an individual collection. Her inspiration ranged from Sharon Stone's character in "The Quick and the Dead" to the work of the New Zealand jewelry designer Nick Von K, particularly his penchant for wings and skulls. The clothes had a Southwestern vibe "without being cowboy," Miller noted, referring to tie-dye, eagle and western prints, fringe details and feathers; the latter appeared on the shoulder of a draped and twisted dress, as well as on the lapel of an embossed leather python jacket. There was also a waxed coat and a coated canvas poncho.
There was more than just fashion behind this move. Over the years, Miller had built a significant sportswear business in specialty boutiques, but department stores largely typecast her as a dress resource for the fifth floor. Sensing an untapped potential for growth, she and chief executive officer Bud Konheim aimed to correct the notion, thus creating Artelier. Jason Wu
"Charley Harper meets the maharaja" is how Jason Wu described his pre-fall collection, which was inspired by the illustrator's wildlife work and translated in rich jewel tones and refined embroidery and beading. "It's taking two very different kind of exuberances into one collection," Wu noted.
The lineup included tiny floral prints or rich brocades on dresses, a beaded houndstooth pattern on a skirt, fine leaf embroideries on chiffon blouses and a structured camel hair cape with black botanical beading on the shoulders. Wu also introduced the "Daphne" bag - a supple leather frame handbag named after the model Daphne Groeneveld. Oscar de la Renta
Never one to skimp on a pre-collection, Oscar de la Renta staged a full-scale runway production for pre-fall, complete with 58 looks. Day clothes began in graphic black-and-white patterns and then moved into a deep garnet color (on leathers, laces and tweeds) and jewel-tone geometric prints. It was a rich visual display - the outerwear in particular - tinged with Russian bourgeois courtesy and an abundance of oversize cabochon jewels.
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