Presented at the Grand Palais in Paris during Couture Fashion week earlier this month, Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2017 Ready-to-Wear Collection was a fashion force to be reckoned with. Baroque Access takes a look
Chanel’s latest collection is named ‘Intimate Technology’; Lagerfeld’s vision included models walking through kilometers of cables, metallic racks and computer cabinets. Chanel is the final word, the mistress of the digital universe, depicted by Lagerfeld in graceful, tender outfits where femininity takes control. A quirky mixture of comfortable tweed and audacious lingerie offerings in silk and lace, the Spring/Summer 2017 collection is fun, flirty and fabulous, a combination that only Karl Lagerfeld can achieve.
The new collection is not classic at all, Lagerfeld admits. It’s as modern as they come, with touch fasteners instead of buttons, denim, cotton and wool threads lining up like those electronic cables used on the runway, and explosions of color. Chanel’s signature pieces are evident throughout but they all have a new edginess. There are sleek clutch bags in perforated silver leather, flat shoes with crossover straps and huge pendant necklaces that look like ID badges and are tied with a snap hook.
Unlined jackets and big coats are worn over long skirts and pleated blouses – femininity with a flourish. Cotton voile gracefully envelopes coats and exquisitely immaculate dresses, decorated with camellias with ruffled edges. Camellias are everywhere in this collection; Madame Chanel’s favorite flower has returned.
Blouses are soft, dresses are silk, with motifs that are inspired by the digital world. The collection is fabulously feminine, with lace, silk and crepe georgette combining in delicate touches of powder, pale and candy pink, blush and peach all the way through to midnight blue.
Underwear is over-wear in this Chanel collection, with underslips, lace petticoats and pyjama trousers in exquisite silk and lace begging to be worn as daywear. In this stunning collection, chic lingerie reigns supreme, an elegant contrast to the fierce reality of our fast, automated world. Yes, Chanel proves once again that femininity transcends time.
Chanel’s latest collection was attended not only by fashion lovers and media; there was more than a sprinkling of interest shown from celebrities, including those one of the House’s ambassadors, Lily-Rose Depp, who attended with her mother Vanessa Paradis. Singer Usher and Young Thug were there, along with French actress Alma Jodorowsky, Chinese actresses Bai Bai He and Sandra Ma, and many other luminaries.