Probably the most anticipated fashion show of Paris Fashion Week took place last Tuesday morning , in its home place , Grand Palais, the fabulous spot , in which Karl Lagerfeld has shared amazing fashion moments during the previous years.
At Chanel’s AW18 show the models walked the leaf-strewn runway at Grand Palais alongside nine old trees. Largerfeld explained, “You know, I’ve always loved autumn. This is a kind of Indian summer with all the leaves. It’s a beautiful mood. Autumn was always my favourite season.”
See every single look here:
Via British Vogue,
Nine old trees lined the leaf-strewn Chanel runway at Grand Palais on Tuesday morning. “I was brought up in the country in an estate with 12 alleys going up to the house, so for me it’s something I’m used to,” Karl Lagerfeld reminisced of his childhood home north of Hamburg. Was he feeling nostalgic for his homeland? “There are French forests, American forests. This is not a local thing. Basically, Germany with Mrs Merkel is not so much my trip.”
The designer has been vocal about his disapproval of the chancellor’s open-border policy in Germany, voicing his at times controversial comments in the European press. But on last Tuesday morning , he seemed like a breather from all of that; from all the debates that have filled the autumn/winter 2018 forum, from gender roles and behaviour to fake news and everything in between. What could be more soothing than the autumnal forest, this majestic metamorphosis of nature?
Going to a Chanel show is like stepping into a beautifully conceived, alternate universe. In the past, audiences have been treated to a space rocket lift-off, a polar scene complete with a real iceberg and a 25-metre-high waterfall. The idea for each lavish setting springs from the imagination of Karl Lagerfeld (he keeps a sketchbook next to his bed because his best ideas come to him in dreams) and is created in exacting detail by Chanel’s army of production staff.
This season, Lagerfeld conjured an autumnal forest of real oak trees sprouting from a living forest floor. By far the biggest show in Paris, let’s crunch the Chanel numbers.
An avenue of nine 17-metre-tall oak trees were transplanted from a forest in the Perche region of north-western France to the vast, glass-ceilinged exhibition space at the Grand PalaisGrand Palais.
The trees formed a living corridor down the centre of the runway, which aped a natural forest floor, complete with autumnal leaves, soil, moss, twigs and tree roots. The audience sat on planks made from tree trunks.
After the show all the trees were recycled – their trunks were sent to a sawmill to be cut into planks and their branches and leaves were turned into shavings and composted.
Lagerfeld approaches his themes with literal elan, but lately – as in this show – he’s been foregoing the humour he’s often used to turn these ideas on their head. His last haute couture show for Chanel imagined a palatial French fountain setting, the ready-to-wear show before that a luxuriant French waterfall.
It seems that Lagerfeld, now bearded like the wiseman he is, finds a need for a more serious and elegant approach to life in the troubled time we live in.
He may be flexing his political muscle in the press but on the massive platform that is his Chanel runway, Lagerfeld is cutting through the noise of the news machine, gifting the world with quiet moments of reflection and appreciation for the things we take for granted. “You know, I’ve always loved autumn. This is a kind of Indian summer with all the leaves. It’s a beautiful mood,” he noted. “Autumn was always my favourite season.”
His new ambassador Kaia Gerber joined the walk in the forest
but it was another girl close to Lagerfeld’s heart, who had the honour of closing the show. “My favourite girl of the moment is a Dutch girl called Luna,” he said referring to Luna Bijl, who planted a peck on his cheek as they took their bow.
The name of Chanel’s new shopper tote, 31 refers to the address of Chanel’s flagship store on Rue Cambon. Large and rectangular with distinctive circular handles and a long shoulder strap, it came in several colours and finishes.
Some were printed with autumnal leaves and worn with matching jackets. Models carried them folded over like a newspaper or gently cupped the bottom of the tote with a hand. Despite its size the 31 has day-to-night potential. Kaia Gerber even accessorised her black lace cocktail dress with the capacious new shopper.
Amazing Classy Dresses…!
That’s the number of people who filed into the vast woodland arena. Front row notables included Keira Knightley, Lily Allen, Yasmin Le Bon, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Lara Stone and Marc Jacobs, who notched up his third front row appearance of the week having already taken in Balenciagaand Comme des Garçons, before hotfooting it off to Miu Miu.
It was another gorgeous creation moment of the legendary designer . All we own to say is a Huge Thank you for the precious moments we shared in this unique , magic fashion show in Paris .
source: British Vogue
Big Thanks !
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