beauty delux

Crystal Method at Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld is having fun these days, and why not,  after a lifetime in the trade and a post as the undisputed  King Lear of the fashion World relieving his childhood fantasies is a justifiable pastime, one that he managed to transform into the centerpiece of Paris fashion week and his shows for Chanel. 

So as celebs like Alicia Keys and Thailand’s princess Siriwaree Narerat watched from the front row, Chanel’s models strutted out in front of jutting crystal-like sculptures, with rich-toned minerals of sparkling hues, where the granite sand glistened and huge stalagmites of various grays and purples (think anthracite and amethyst) soared high beneath the dome of the Grand Palais.

The clothes are almost expected to dazzle when it comes to their sheer luxury and accouterments, For the most part they are   reinterpretations of tried and true silhouettes that have been around for decades, transformed by the painstaking tolerance and surprising creative stamina of Karl.  So why not have some fun with the sets and the models ergo I guess the thick pasted on crystal eyelashes that made the most beautiful women in the World look like troglodytes fairies from a crystal fantasy land….Hilarious.

The everpresent  tweed and wool jackets and overcoats treated with a coating of what seemed like crystal beedings  were present, they are after all a staple of the house. There were some great skinny jeans like pants,  a few of them knitted, others rendered with a shellacked like  finish and beedings along with a miriad of cute  intarsia sweaters and tops. The palette of deep purples, blues, greens, grays and some reds made the  whole ensemble appear youthful and exuberant, a collection with a renew french sportif spirit which kind of hit you like a fresh gust of wind whistling thrue the crystal peaks protruding from the catwalk…interesting also the shoes of sheer plastic that were also adorned with crystals.

I am not going to dwell on the clothes, and the merit and relevance of the collection, Chanel is a powerhouse that in no way shape or form needs any one’s approval, critique or otherwise. They are fashion and fashion is Chanel, That is the nature of the beast. Lagerfeld has had a big part in all of this so why not have some fun?…“nature makes a good designer, no?”

The tiny tot on the runway in case any one was wondering is Hudson Kroenig, 3, whose dad Brad is a male model and close friend of Kaiser Karl.