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Pre-fall lines preside on the catwalk
January 4, 2011, Tuesday
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PRE-FALL collection from Chanel
Plenty of designers are content to dabble in the shallows of recent decades for inspiration. Not Karl Lagerfeld.
For Chanel's pre-fall Metiers d'Art line, the luxury ready-to-wear range embellished by the couture ateliers that Chanel owns, the designer gazed back 16 centuries to early Byzantine times and concocted a transporting collection based on muted color, rich ornamentation and regal-yet-forgiving silhouettes. An undercurrent of rock 'n' roll hedonism thrust the look into the here and now.
Hand Lagerfeld a fragment and he can construct a wall of shimmering fashion possibility. In this case, he picked up one of Gabrielle Chanel's iconic, prewar inventions - chunky cuffs adorned with Byzantine crosses - and ran with it, imagining links between her, a self-made fashion queen, and Theodora, who rose from the lowest ranks of Byzantine society to become a powerful empress.
"I like the idea of these two strong women," Lagerfeld mused during fittings before the show, winking behind his dark sunglasses when he added: "You know, there's Chanel everywhere 鈥 I take a little idea and I make a collection."
Lagerfeld had toyed with showing in Istanbul, where Chanel recently opened a 3,800-square-foot flagship store and where Byzantium once flourished on the banks of the Bosphorus. Yet by showing in its Rue Cambon couture salons, transformed into a gilded Turkish tearoom, Chanel put the focus on the clothes. "It's all about mosaics," said Lagerfeld, who traveled to Ravenna, Italy, to view the intricate artworks from the fifth and sixth centuries that adorn its churches and monuments. "I thought it was an influence that could be very much Chanel," he said. "It's also about a spirit."
The designer opened the show in early December with a series of tailored coats and capes, jeweled square buttons and ecclesiastical panels telegraphing the Byzantine period. Signature tweed suits were flecked with gold, or lashed with chains for added opulence. While some looks were heavy - weighed down with tricky, architectural cuts and dense, tile-like embroideries - the show eventually eased into a psychedelic, rich-hippie groove.
Loose men's trousers in velvet or crushed corduroy looked terrific with sequined cardigans, and the show climaxed with boyish beauty Freja Beha Erichsen in lean, embroidered jeans, jeweled curlicue flats and a long golden duster.
The annual Metiers d'Arts line, launched in 2002, has become a growing, all-doors business for Chanel, and the firm will reprise the Paris-Byzance show in spring in Istanbul, where clients are particularly enamored with ready-to-wear, said Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of fashion.
"We have a growing demand for this kind of very outstanding product. It's another way for a client to feel unique," he explained.
Heavily embellished styles can run from US$20,000 to US$40,000, while some more simplified jackets retail at lessthan US$3,970.
Pavlovsky said this pre-fall delivery has become as important as the cruise collection, offering "strong novelty in the boutiques from May to July," and well timed for the early fall social calendar. He projected double-digit growth for Paris-Byzance, sold in all 180 Chanel boutiques and wholesaled to select US department stores.
Chanel hosted two shows, with celebrity-studded front rows in each. Marianne Faithfull praised the flat shoes, despite the title of her forthcoming album, "Horses and High Heels," due out in Europe this month.
"Harry Potter" star Clemence Poesy, dazzled by the walls paved in matte gold sequins, said she recently wrapped a French movie in which she plays Joan of Arc, minus any heroic costumes. "It's about her one year in prison," she sighed.
Ines de la Fressange said her publisher, Flammarion, was rushing another 50,000 copies of her style guide, "La Parisienne," into print after the initial run sold out. "We're in third position after Keith Richards and Harry Potter. It's incredible," she beamed. Vanessa Paradis has recently wrapped "Cafe de Flore" and is preparing to tour again this month with her band. Forget about getting tickets though: Her concerts at the Folies Bergere in Paris are all sold out.
Joshua Jackson wrapped his arm around Diane Kruger as they reclined deep into the cushioned banquette. The German actress is gearing up for the release this year of "Unknown," in which she plays a Bosnian illegal immigrant alongside Liam Neeson.
Plenty of designers are content to dabble in the shallows of recent decades for inspiration. Not Karl Lagerfeld.
For Chanel's pre-fall Metiers d'Art line, the luxury ready-to-wear range embellished by the couture ateliers that Chanel owns, the designer gazed back 16 centuries to early Byzantine times and concocted a transporting collection based on muted color, rich ornamentation and regal-yet-forgiving silhouettes. An undercurrent of rock 'n' roll hedonism thrust the look into the here and now.
Hand Lagerfeld a fragment and he can construct a wall of shimmering fashion possibility. In this case, he picked up one of Gabrielle Chanel's iconic, prewar inventions - chunky cuffs adorned with Byzantine crosses - and ran with it, imagining links between her, a self-made fashion queen, and Theodora, who rose from the lowest ranks of Byzantine society to become a powerful empress.
"I like the idea of these two strong women," Lagerfeld mused during fittings before the show, winking behind his dark sunglasses when he added: "You know, there's Chanel everywhere 鈥 I take a little idea and I make a collection."
Lagerfeld had toyed with showing in Istanbul, where Chanel recently opened a 3,800-square-foot flagship store and where Byzantium once flourished on the banks of the Bosphorus. Yet by showing in its Rue Cambon couture salons, transformed into a gilded Turkish tearoom, Chanel put the focus on the clothes. "It's all about mosaics," said Lagerfeld, who traveled to Ravenna, Italy, to view the intricate artworks from the fifth and sixth centuries that adorn its churches and monuments. "I thought it was an influence that could be very much Chanel," he said. "It's also about a spirit."
The designer opened the show in early December with a series of tailored coats and capes, jeweled square buttons and ecclesiastical panels telegraphing the Byzantine period. Signature tweed suits were flecked with gold, or lashed with chains for added opulence. While some looks were heavy - weighed down with tricky, architectural cuts and dense, tile-like embroideries - the show eventually eased into a psychedelic, rich-hippie groove.
Loose men's trousers in velvet or crushed corduroy looked terrific with sequined cardigans, and the show climaxed with boyish beauty Freja Beha Erichsen in lean, embroidered jeans, jeweled curlicue flats and a long golden duster.
The annual Metiers d'Arts line, launched in 2002, has become a growing, all-doors business for Chanel, and the firm will reprise the Paris-Byzance show in spring in Istanbul, where clients are particularly enamored with ready-to-wear, said Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel's president of fashion.
"We have a growing demand for this kind of very outstanding product. It's another way for a client to feel unique," he explained.
Heavily embellished styles can run from US$20,000 to US$40,000, while some more simplified jackets retail at lessthan US$3,970.
Pavlovsky said this pre-fall delivery has become as important as the cruise collection, offering "strong novelty in the boutiques from May to July," and well timed for the early fall social calendar. He projected double-digit growth for Paris-Byzance, sold in all 180 Chanel boutiques and wholesaled to select US department stores.
Chanel hosted two shows, with celebrity-studded front rows in each. Marianne Faithfull praised the flat shoes, despite the title of her forthcoming album, "Horses and High Heels," due out in Europe this month.
"Harry Potter" star Clemence Poesy, dazzled by the walls paved in matte gold sequins, said she recently wrapped a French movie in which she plays Joan of Arc, minus any heroic costumes. "It's about her one year in prison," she sighed.
Ines de la Fressange said her publisher, Flammarion, was rushing another 50,000 copies of her style guide, "La Parisienne," into print after the initial run sold out. "We're in third position after Keith Richards and Harry Potter. It's incredible," she beamed. Vanessa Paradis has recently wrapped "Cafe de Flore" and is preparing to tour again this month with her band. Forget about getting tickets though: Her concerts at the Folies Bergere in Paris are all sold out.
Joshua Jackson wrapped his arm around Diane Kruger as they reclined deep into the cushioned banquette. The German actress is gearing up for the release this year of "Unknown," in which she plays a Bosnian illegal immigrant alongside Liam Neeson.
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