March 9, 2016 |
A big show, but not a big top. Chanel stripped it all back to virtually nothing at the Grand Palais, a super-size salon with several thousand seats, spectacular – but very different to an airport or French brasserie. The show was a return to Coco of old – big bouncing pearls, tweeds, boater hats, diamond quilting, in stitches and corset cross-lacing bisecting midriffs and the ankles of bouclé-panelled riding boots. The oft-repeated codes of Chanel endlessly reiterated. Rather than looking outside for inspiration, Karl Lagerfeld trawled through and hauled from the archives, a super-sized classic show of Chanel classics – a greatest hits parade. It’s impossible not to wind up making a mental shopping list at a Chanel show. Here, there was more to adore – and acquire – than ever before.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
