Karl Lagerfeld's Fall 2009/2010 Haute Couture Collection for CHANEL, all the pieces of which are shown in this post, made its debut July 7th, at dusk in the Grand Palais. The stage was set with giant white opaque N° 5 bottles, creating a wonderfully minimalistic background for the ornate collection to be shown.
The haute collection has lots of lace, sequins, embroidery, tights, trains and funky accessories like bizarre hats and finger gloves. Tons of texture and little makeup paraded down the runway and here's a look at every bit of it.
The Hats: Odd sheer little caps adorned with crystals topped many a model's head.
The Legs: lots of lace tights and mixtures of materials and textures punctuated the collection.
The Suits: The classic nubby knit Chanel suit is updated with a more modern silhouette that includes asymmetrical hemlines, tails or trains, cutaway jackets and mock turtle necks. Paired with dark lace tights, high heeled booties and funky little sheer bejeweled hats, the look is definitely less traditional than the Chanel suits of the past.
The Materials: Intricate sequins, embroidery, netting, paillettes, feathers and crystals adorn several of the couture pieces, but in a Vienna-inspired, almost Gustav Klimt-like, patterns giving them a more modern look.
The Shoes: High heeled booties and bejeweled ankle straps were amongst the shoes shown. Even some of the shoes are sequined.
The Gloves: bizarre little individual gloves for the fingers only as well as fingerless gloves are were worn:
The details: some of the telltale CHANEL attributes are there like camellias, a lot of black and white in addition to the vibrant patterns, and the superb craftsmanship and attention to detail we've come to associate with the label.
The Make-up: The models sported heavy eyeliner, pale complexions and nude lips as they strutted down the catwalk.
The Hair and jewelry: Long hair extension pony tails, sometimes made of mixed colors and netted, was the choice of coiffure for the event. And, noticeably absent, were the layered long gold chain necklaces and iconic pearls, with shoulder-brushing earrings being the only jewelry.
The Fall 2009/10 CHANEL Couture Collection:
(please click on the images to enlarge)
The Wedding Finale: And of course, the requisite wedding finale in which the front of one of the giant white bottles opened to reveal the bride and groom within, who emerged and walked the catwalk.
And the of course, the legendary designer, Karl Lagerfeld:
all photos courtesy of CHANEL and gorunway.com
Individual collection photos: full photos by Monica Feudi , detail photos by Simone Manzo