Courtesy of Chanel.com
BEACH
PLE ASE
Having taken us to the harbor city Hamburg, sailed the ship to the bay where La Pausa was settled, Karl transported us to the seaside again. This time Chanel presented lapping waves, azure sky, fine white sands, along with a wooden hut above water and, of course, the seat for a lifeguard starring Brad Kroening. Such transforming gesture, noted Anne Combaz, allowed us to take a minute “dans un moment de suspens, entre la mémoire de vies vécues avant nous - et la prescience d’autres vies à venir.” (in a suspended moment, entering the lives that lived before ours and also the lives that are yet to come.)
Courtesy of Chanel.com
October 10, 2018
by DDA
October the 2nd 2019 marked not only the last day of PFW Spring 2019, but also the birth of another splendid scene set produced by Chanel. Karl Lagerfeld offered a vacation escape from the exhaustion of this month-long run for the fashion elites. Worry not, out of sustainability, Chanel promised that the water will be reprocessed by Eau de Paris, and the sands will be sent to “the usual circuit of the construction industry” as they were initially intended, reported Anders Christian Madsen. After being put on the Ritz, the spectators found themselves sitting on dunes of clean sands in the Grand Palais. Forewarned by the sounds of seagulls, phones were up and ready to deliver the show on live thanks to Instagram. Michel Gaubert once again updated our workout playlist. Since their last single in 2014, Glass Candy debuted their unreleased new song “Naked City” at the Chanel Spring Summer 2019 show. This charming voice of mystery can also be found at Chanel Fall 2008 and Chanel Spring Couture 2008. Following the music, you may be prepared to enjoy “L’Amour à La Plage”.
Courtesy of Vogue Paris, Photo: Jamie Stocker
The artificial grandeur of beach payed tribute to the island of Sylt where Karl occasionally visited as a child and went back with Claudia Schiffer and Shalom Harlow for Chanel Fall 1995-1996 campaign. “In my childhood you had to take little fishing boats to go over,” the designer confessed his rare nostalgia to Suzy Menkes, “the same landscape changes every day, the dunes move with the wind.” It could be too much to have a blowing machine moving the sands like that happening in the real island life, but the ease of breeze still found its way to the show. Tossed hair reminiscent of holidays by the beach flew in the air as the Chanel girls strolled on the sands. Sam McKnight wanted to create “beach luxe” hair for the show, because “you know it’s a Chanel beach, there’s an element of luxury to it.” Bien sûr, cinched with the double C barrette, the hair rendered a hint of being by the C-side, and the beach remained Chanel. Gabrielle Chanel herself had a personal attachment to the beach. It’s where she spent generous time together with Misia, where she’d hangout in Deauville and where she holidayed with the Duke of Westminster in the French Riviera. Karl coincided his affection to the beach with Chanel. After dedicating a new line, “Coco Neige”, to winter sport earlier this year, he drew the inspiration of offering a collection of beach essentials, “Coco Beach”, during his summer vacation in Saint-Tropez. According to WWD, this act will ensure “a strong in-season component”, filling in the lack of the assortment of beach gear in Chanel. Not to mention, the French couture house recently acquired British swimwear brand Orlebar Brown. Perhaps the bright side of global warming can be recognized as more on-going vacation seasons, and these historical fashion houses can finally take an opportunity to update your summer wardrobe, work to leisure, bed to beach.
Chanel Fall 1995-1996 Campaign
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Chanel with the Duke of Westminster and Vera Bate
The holiday mood is high, as if never waned. Luna Bijl set the tone with a white ensemble dotted with scattering sequins in sandy beige, and framed by clean lines in black. The second look came out in golden hue which reminded Sophie Fontanel of Romy Schneider in Boccaccio ’70, “mais version 2019”. In 1962, Luchino Visconti asked Gabrielle Chanel to design costumes for the movie. Chanel outdid everything like she had always done. Romy Schneider was transformed by Chanel in the look, and Chanel taught her how to “become Chanel”, though barely possible, Romy imposed a synthesis of daring attitude and charming elegance.
Romy Schneider in Boccaccio ’70
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Karl recalibrated the jackets with an increased volume in length, shoulder and sleeves. The jackets were mix-matched with black leggings (which might divide your proportion into 50/50 even if you are Adwoa Aboah), some are left swinging open, and some are joined together by the belts spelling out CHA-NEL. “I’ve never done things by halves, I either like them or I don’t,” Chanel declared (“Je n’ai jamais fait les choses à moitié, j’aime ou je n’aime pas.”). I supposed Chanel would like this crime Karl again committed in her name. In diagonal asymmetry, the letters split into half resembled movement, like notes on the stave, playful yet optimistic. The relaxed mood was overt and pleasant to perceive. Seen in the thatch-shaded fringed top, the insouciance nodded to the rare presence of liberation in our modern society. But we were glad to see it back with the front-open culottes. Cropped high above the ankles, the culottes elicited the idea of freedom, showing the legs while the girls stepped forward making each move an allure. One blue outfit adapted the boxy silhouette of the lifeguard’s vest making the femininity look even more powerful. However, the
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Vogue Runway, Photo- Marcus Tondo / Indigital.tv
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Chanel.com
softness was there to balance the collection. Pleated dresses, chiffon dresses, and A-line skirts with chain straps offered a touch of sweet youth to the summer theme. Feeling more summer, attendees sitting next to the boardwalk fixed their gaze on the parasol motif, same as the one printed on the invitation. This symbolic summer staple ran through the show on prints, camellias, abstract embroideries and biker shorts (thank god it’s not Bella Hadid this time). Was lace out of beach? Apparently not for Karl. Several looks paraded out in laces accentuated the resort mood. This collection showcasing a blend of French elegance and sporty chic in Chanel’s manner ended up with evening looks in black. Black offered a perfect backdrop to depict a serene night on the beach. The golden threads sewed a picture where a rising moon from the placid surface of the sea emerged half above water projecting a shadow of the double C. The glittering sequins even mimicked the reflections on the ocean at night. It was Leila Goldkuhl who walked with one of the straps off shoulders that finally brought this romantic imagination to life.
Courtesy of Vogue Runway, Photo- Marcus Tondo / Indigital.tv
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Chanel.com
But in reality, the accessories continued to dominate Instagram hashtags. It seems less groundbreaking to say Chanel has introduced new designs to handbags, but when you see them, they are, nonetheless, breathtaking. Seen in Loewe this season as well, wickers were woven into bags in Chanel, a perfect option for a bourgeois picnic. Beach balloon bags and seashell bags will certainly be your next party statements. And for your convenience, the envelop bag can be worn in front thanks to the strap or attached to the waist when worn with a belt. The show was a true testament to modeling. You are not a good model, if you can’t walk sur la plage, with or without shoes. It seemed only fitting to let the girls walk on the sands barefoot, having the footwear swung in the hands or hooked on bags. Such realistic performance reduced no idiosyncratic air of creativity. After the plastic trend for cloudy shoes in Spring 2018, Karl released your feet from being trapped in perspirations, cutting the use of this unbreathable material only to the slide part. Allowing sunlight to come through, the transparent heels added more fun to your next summer, because the current one has officially finished. Embodying the last bit of summer in this October, the wide-brimmed straw hats with a tattered edge were made midway between top and floppy hat, functional and appropriate for the beach. As in other hats, the double visor caps made their public profile at the show with CHA and NEL on each bill.
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Vogue Runway, Photo- Marcus Tondo / Indigital.tv
Courtesy of Vogue Runway, Photo- Marcus Tondo / Indigital.tv
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Courtesy of Chanel.com
Looks and accessories from the Spring-Summer 2019 collection - CHANEL
Finally, accompanied by Virginie Viard, the Director of Chanel studio, Karl came out and waved to the girls who were frolicking on the water with their summer makeup on. Lucia Pica painted the lips with Rouge Allure Velvet 72 Infrarose (available January) and further mattified the finish with Poudre Universelle Libre to preserve the vibrancy of the shade while striking a contrast to the glossy eyes. Defined by coated black lashes, the minimal eye makeup was complemented by the “glowing-like-an-expensive-bea-tch” cheeks thanks to Baume Essentiel Transparent (available January), effortless yet sumptuous. If you are impatient to wait for 3 months for the makeups, in this December, you will find Chanel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for their next Métiers d'Art collection. As if home-coming, Chanel was the theme of the Met Gala back in 2005, and, in 2016 “Manus x Machina: Fashion in the Age of Technology”, the train from Chanel Fall Couture 2014 took over a central cocoon. While Chanel Ltd. decided to move their headquarter to London from New York, Karl is taking the show back to the big apple. What's the next splendor? We will only have to find out in two months.
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