For Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2010 Couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld surprised us with a minimalistic set, directing all attention to the clothes. The colour palette was fresh, with hues of frosted pastels and metallics. Above all, not a single LBD was presented. Lagerfeld mentioned, “It’s the first time in my whole career I’ve done a collection without black or navy. There’s not one gold button.”
The collection saw the youthful reinvention of the classic Chanel suits; culottes, trimmed with frilly tulle, replaced pencil skirts while molten silver edges and embroidery displaced the classic braid trimmings. The silver touch nicely matches the silver pearl-trimmed shoes and foil fingerless gloves a-la Lagerfeld’s. Silver-jeweled shift dresses with frothy cocoon capes also came with sophisticated adornments. Crystals and pearl were not spared in being embroidered as jewelry.
Despite the collection being seemingly ready-to-wear, the Chanel artisan treatment was undoubtedly evident. The cocoon cape was made entirely out of 13,000 handmade satin flowers whereas the final dress alone took 1,300 hours of work.
Spotted amongst the silver sofas surrounded by tall columns of neon lights in the front row was 13-year old Tavi Gevinson, whom we recently featured in the latest issue of Mykromag.
Text by Arina Abu Bakar.
Images via media.onsugar.com
It’s a great collection, especially in terms of detail. What I particularly love about this season is that it seems like Lagerfeld wasn’t going for progressing the Chanel line, more than he was playfully commenting on the essence of Chanel. Between the overdone hair, the classic makeup(complete with red lips) and the exaggerated bows, the models are dressed as “little Chanel girls.” Instead of a “youthful reinvention,” perhaps it’s more of a commentary on what Chanel was in the past mixed with (slightly kitschy or trendy) touches that seem to be the antithesis of the Chanel look (:The silver shoes and tights, the sequins, excessive tulle, metallic suit).
All in all, it’s an enjoyable collection that doesn’t seem take itself so seriously. I admire that.