Designer Focus: Chanel

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2 7 2012

Backstage in the Grand Palais by Benoit Peverelli

Call it an ethereal siren’s song. Chanel’s Spring and Summer Collection (unlike much of Spring’s boldly colored march to the tribal beat) breathed the fresh air of the sea in Karl Lagerfeld’s glittering fantasy underwater world. This is a place where porcelain pink, pearly white and iced blue mix with black fronds of spindly seaweed lace, where modern-day nymphs bask in ultra-feminine yet strangely androgynous silhouettes and deconstructed jackets flecked in pearlescent beading and voluminous sleeves.

With our Chanel Trunk Show beginning today, this singular Spring Collection mixes that which is iconically Chanel with puffs of another (quieter) world. The palette is iced pale, giving the impression that it only exists in the dreams of San Tropez. Tiered skirts of shredded muslin bloom from below candy-colored jackets, echoing pearly sponges and jellyfish in motion. New materials like silicone, cellophane and fiberglass lend to the collection’s nebulous aura; however, no matter how weightless these materials are, you want to touch them and feel their significance. One knit jacket covered in pearlescent sequins resembles the gleaming inside of a peachy conch shell. Also: it must be noted that his nymphs will walk in comfort: almost every shoe in the collection is flat and slightly mod in feel.

Beyond that seen on the runway are complementing pieces of twill and knit, classic Chanel pieces like boxy jackets and iced blue dresses with a tiered skirt. Over-sized double-breasted blazers harken back to Coco Chanel’s days spent on the beach, defying the styles of the times. Sweaters, perfect for springtime lunch dates in New York (when the trees just are beginning to bloom), breeze into the mix, harmonizing with looks seen on and off the runway. Join us today and tomorrow during our Chanel Trunk Show. For more details, call 212 872 2814.