FRANCE: As the crowds filed out of the Chanel show in the Carrousel du Louvre yesterday alongside a ramp done up like a one-way street complete with double yellow lines, it was evident that those familiar boucle tweeds and pearls continue to be as prolific off as well as on the catwalk.
The show called Sens Unique (French for one-way street), was not only a nod to its urban chic, but also a reminder that at a time when the august French house was going nowhere, Karl Lagerfeld gave it a sense of direction, a sens unique literally of itself, which, under his steady hand, has never faltered.
An artful melange of grainy, browny black tweeds with nutty jackets, chunky scarves and jaunty caps worn with drainpipe trousers set the mood and the shape of the collection.
Sporty gilets, graphic stretch T-shirts and check trousers had different patterns, but harmonious colours. Night met day with black bomber jackets over long tiered black chiffon skirts while slinky black suits came in stretch oversize houndstooth with acid green knitted beanies. Hoods and pouch pockets were everywhere.
Cutting through the hard-edged, almost rapper style daywear and showing the two sides of the modern metropolitan female were floaty camellia print chiffon dresses, lavender knits and minty pink tweed jackets embellished with fluffy corsages.
Swinging the show along were the accessories, the funky plastic jewellery, the tweed and quilted bags and those endless ropes of pearls and chains that gave the show its iconic Chanel touch. News for Irish fans is that Brown Thomas will be introducing Chanel accessories including jewellery bags and shoes to its revamped store in Dublin in September.
While Lagerfeld reclaimed the streets for the catwalk, Dries Van Noten brought a more nostalgic note to his very beautiful, languid collection, a flashback to the I920s and 1930s, at the École des Beaux Arts. Rich in detail and texture, this was a real celebration of the feminine love of decoration.