Karl Lagerfeld is more creative than ever, with his most innovative ideas brought to life through Chanel collections. Dubbed #DataCenterChanel, the latest Chanel spring/summer 2017 ready-to-wear collection just proved it once again, as it overwhelmed this Paris Fashion Week with a fashionable digital renovation.
Lagerfeld, whose experiments with fashion are getting closer to the digital side of art and fashion (just think about the collage effects he used for the Chanel fall/winter 2016-17 ad campaign), has in fact finally completely immersed himself into high tech, surprising us with an extremely intricate and technological runway show.
While at first glance the collection might predominantly seem standard Chanel, Lagerfeld made sure most of the staples could get us closer than ever to a parallel futuristic world, which has already been regarded as the actual future of fashion by many.
With revisited stormtroopers opening the show (I almost screamed with joy when I saw them), and the runway show’s location being the Grand Palais, this time embellished with wires and cables, the Chanel spring 2017 runway show hit it big from the very beginning, and was surely a pure pleasure to watch for those who were sitting in the first rows.
This time around, Lagerfeld made it possible for everyone attending the show to see every single detail, texture and material of the proposals, as the Grand Palais is, omen est nomen, extremely big. There were, in fact, only few rows, which were forming long wavy lines of seats, so that, as Lagerfeld himself stated backstage, “nobody can complain’.
With the Grand Palais being a building from the French Belle Epoque, the contrasting patterns created by Lagerfeld’s technological adornments must have been imposing, as much as the combination between the familiar motifs of the designs and the more futuristic holographic ones.
The Chanel spring/summer 2017 ready-to-wear collection got even further into its mission to showcase dichotomist patterns, combining street-wear baseball caps worn sideways with Chanel’s signature tweed suits. If not paired with baseball hats, such suits got even embellished with metallic chains and necklaces, which somehow looked perfect for all those business women, who are very unconventionally sophisticated at heart.
Overall, the collection was extremely versatile and filled with amazing details, which is incredibly astounding if we just stop and think about the fact that Lagerfeld meticulously embellished a grand total of 86 different outfits.
Although being breathtakingly variegated and refined, the Chanel spring/summer 2017 collection followed three major motifs, with the first one being technology, the second one being street-style-meets-haute-couture, and the last one being lingerie-inspired couture.
While the high tech and street-style parts of the lineup often meet each other, combining their patterns such as tweed suits, skirts and holographic prints all together, the third range of designs gave its best to the show’s grand finale, only shyly showing delicate embellishments here and there within the first two sections.
Lingerie-couture, as seen through Lagerfeld’s eyes, mainly included uber-sophisticated lace hems in a lovely pale rose color, and, of course, more boho-chic inspired staples as seen in the runway show’s last part, with butterfly sleeves, belts cinched at the waists and plunging V-necklines exuding femininity at its best.
Being one of the Paris fashion Week’s most anticipated runway shows, the collection has been receiving positive feedback from many bloggers, journalists and fashion enthusiasts. It is interesting to note that, as for now, this really seems to be an odi at amo collection, with people either loving it or, or being disappointed in Lagerfeld’s technological turn.
Photos courtesy of Vogue
