Fashion File - Chanel

How do you know when a city is having what’s known as a “fashion moment”? When Karl Lagerfeld comes to town with his pre-Fall collection for Chanel. This season, it seems Karl heard London calling…

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2008

Coco Chanel had her share of controversial collections, and this season Karl Lagerfeld is adding to that legacy. But, after the twenty-five years he’s had at the house, we think he’s earned the right to stir the pot a little, don’t you?

Chanel Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2007

Within a great collection, a great designer can deliver variety and focus all at once. Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld rolled out plenty of both this season within his haute couture collection for spring/summer 2007.

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2007

Once again designer Karl Lagerfeld re-inhabits the emblems that embody the House of Chanel, from the little quilted bag to black and white pairings to pearls. The collection includes some futurist flavorings with metallics and sparkle; not so much heady but very, very leggy.

Chanel: Paris/Monte Carlo - Spring/Summer 2007

For the past few years, completely off any recognized fashion schedule, the house of Chanel presents a collection that is designed to utilize the talents of the artisans and craftsmen – or métiers d’arts, as they’re known in France – that the company has spent the past few years acquiring and preserving. This special collection has traveled as far as Tokyo and New York, but this year, Karl Lagerfeld has brought the production to Monte Carlo.

Chanel - Fall/Winter 2006

With “sobriety” the key word in fashion right now, Lagerfeld didn’t exactly send a rainbow of colours out on the runway. In fact, his Fall/Winter 2006 ready-to-wear collection could be summed up in 3 words: Black …And…. White.

Chanel Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2006

The white tower reaching for the sky is a 21st Century version of Chanel’s famous spiral staircase. It’s the perfect symbol for Karl Lagerfeld’s 21st century take on couture.

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2006

The Chanel woman gleamed beneath the extravagant domed roof of steel and glass at the newly-renovated Grand Palais in Paris. Just recently opening its doors to the public, Karl Lagerfeld took this opportunity to show a quick and comprehensive run-down of all that the season has to offer while
seamlessly maintaining the heart and spirit of Chanel.

Chanel Haute Couture - Fall/Winter 2005

As astonishing as it sounds, Karl Lagerfeld has been working in couture for fifty years – a feat that has given him the edge of experience and flawless technique over many of his peers. This season, we have fifty looks on fifty models, and a sampling of what modern couture looks like.

Chanel - Fall/Winter 2005

In traditional Chanel fashion, this collection combines the house’s signature tweeds and camellia appliqués with that slick Lagerfeld touch. Besides extending cocktail hour this season with his many variations on Chanel’s “little black dress,” Lagerfeld also pays homage to the house’s quilted gilt chain handbag, celebrating its 50th anniversary and bringing it back for every woman—and man—to covet.

Chanel Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2005

Karl Lagerfeld’s latest couture collection for Chanel is possibly one of the most French collections he has ever done. His idealized vision is a French garden rooted in the 18th century during the period of French enlightenment. In true Lagerfeld form he marries these historical references with a light modern vision.

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2005

Karl Lagerfeld reunited Nicole Kidman and Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann to create the most expensive commercial ever made for Chanel’s legendary No. 5 fragrance. In a two-minute story of couture, celebrity, love and loss, fashion’s greatest icon and one of its newest are united in a true “fashion moment”. And then Ms. Kidman came to Paris…

Chanel Haute Couture - Fall/Winter 2004

Karl Lagerfeld showed his latest couture collection for Chanel in the studios where the sets for the Paris opera house used to be built. There was a slight operatic hint in the latest show but more than that there was his usual tremendous undertone of hard and soft, sensual and righteous.

Chanel - Fall/Winter 2004

This collection was called "One-Way Street", and when Karl Lagerfeld directs traffic it tends to be congested, with thousands of ideas traveling all at once. Even the aesthetic of the house often straddles two lanes – a girlish elegance in one and rock ‘n’ roll edge in the other. Oh, and did we mention the boys?

Chanel Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2004

The past year has been a tricky one for the French – politically speaking – and this season seems to be the time for a little national pride. At the house of Chanel, this comes by way of a presentation in the Palais Bourbon Conde, or home of the French National Assembly, and a tribute to the house’s mistress who is something of a national icon in her own right.

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2004

Karl Lagerfeld must be a very happy man. His latest Chanel collection is sheer joy. Whether it is a classic Chanel suit or a sheer dress, these sweet looks laced with charm work for all ages.

Chanel Haute Couture - Fall/Winter 2003

The cloisters of a 17th century former convent was the setting for Karl Lagerfeld’s dream-inspired Chanel Haute collection for fall/winter 2003. One part medieval, one part Belle Epoque, one part futuristic, this was a surrealist’s fantasy.

Chanel - Fall/Winter 2003

For several seasons, Karl Lagerfeld’s direction for Chanel ready-to-wear has been about bringing a rock beat to a classic tune. This season, he has turned up the volume with double-length minis, delicate tweeds and the intriguing new “leg mittens”.

Chanel Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2003

To celebrate 20 years with the house of Chanel Karl Lagerfeld brought out an exquisitely light and ethereal collection for Spring 2003. The famous Chanel suits were woven into colored threads on tulle and prints were delicately soft with out of focus effects. The idea of romantic, delicate decay materialized in wispy hems that evaporated into transparent mist and the light, airy theme was enhanced by layers of beaded fabric and showers of appliqued blossoms and jewellery - a testament to the exquisite skill of Chanel's Haute Couture ateliers.

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2003

Karl Lagerfeld’s own sinewy slimness has influenced the shape at Chanel for several seasons now as he hones new ways to show the body through restraint in cut and revealing designs. This season’s silhouette has evolved into a youthful athleticism and relaxed take on dressing that has all the hallmarks of this spring’s sporting obsession.
Fashion’s first label of sophisticated sportswear has taken up with the season’s most directional trend: Chanel has gone back to the beach.

Chanel Haute Couture - Fall/Winter 2002

There is a kind of haute couture that achieves its outlandish spectacle and then there is Chanel - exquisitely delicate but no less practical. The entire collection exuded French seductive chic - mixing 18th century historical references with classical tailoring and modern day punk. This dream-induced collection was psychologically astute as Karl Lagerfeld buried a touch of sartorial psychosexual tension within the sublime elegance of the clothes.

Chanel - Fall/Winter 2002

The Chanel girl was definitely a rock chick this season, urged out of her shell by the live performance of Belgian electronica band Vive La Fete. Stomping down the runway in motorcycle boots, miniskirts and plenty of leather, Lagerfeld sent out an army to secure Chanel's rock revolution.

Chanel - Spring/Summer 2002

Karl Lagerfeld's own newly-trim silhouette has inspired a whip-thin wardrobe this spring, drawn from a collection crowded with A-line skirts, motocross leathers, and plenty of skin-baring chiffon. While defending his status as fashion's barometer for the future however, Lagerfeld was also respectful of the house's mistress, whose doctrine of ease of movement, relaxed elegance and above all, covetable clothes was very much in evidence in the collection.

Chanel Haute Couture - Spring/Summer 2002

At a time when haute couture is often thought of as pure fantasy, Karl Lagerfeld manages to breath new life into an age-old tradition. 20 years after joining the House of Chanel, Lagerfeld paid homage to the legacy with a vintage, 1920ís inspired collection. His soft colour palette of grays and pinks was influenced by the work of Parisian impressionist painter Marie Laurencin and by contrasting ethereal romance with the discipline of Edwardian tailoring, Lagerfeld was able to create a collection that was at once modern and nostalgic.