Kristen Stewart saunters in, as insouciant as ever, and takes a seat at the centre table. She is followed by a stream of Lagerfeld muses: Vanessa Paradis in a shimmering 70s-style tunic-and-trouser combo; the statuesque Lara Stone; Rita Ora in a plunging metallic ensemble; Lily Collins and Lily-Rose Depp, striding arm-in-arm; and, finally, Julianne Moore, resplendent in an emerald-green gown. Each is wearing custom-designed Chanel couture, paired with platinum and diamond re-editions from Bijoux de Diamants, the first and only fine jewellery collection to be created by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, in the 1930s.
The gentleman sitting next to me reels off their names with relish. Only Karl Lagerfeld could amass so much star power – and then turn it into the backdrop for one of his shows.
“All of the people you see here are friends. They loved the idea,” the 81-year-old designer will later say of his celebrity-studded cast at the Tuesday show.
We are seated, shoulder-to-shoulder and rigid with anticipation, within the lofty main hall of the Grand Palais, Paris’s historic Beaux-Arts-style museum and cultural centre. A healthy dose of drama is a given at any Chanel presentation – the brand’s autumn/winter 2014 ready-to-wear show was set in a purpose-built Chanel superstore; for winter 2015, the Grand Palais was transformed into an elaborate pop-up restaurant, Brasserie Gabrielle. But two minutes in and the fashion house’s autumn/winter 2015-16 haute couture show is already shaping up to be something rather special.
The music builds slowly, a pulsing beat by sound stylist Michel Gaubert that hits you deep in the solar plexus. The models make their entrance, weaving their way past the star-studded centrepiece and up and around the two-level, art-deco, casino-themed room. Their hair is styled in futuristic-looking, razor-sharp “tomboy” bobs, and their faces are hardened with slashes of blusher, bright-red lips and strong eyebrows. Their dual-toned fingernails are painted in Chanel’s trademark black and white, and on their feet they wear angular slingback booties with a geometric heel. It’s not a look for the faint-hearted.
Look number one sets the tone for a collection that takes some of the fashion house’s best-known and most-loved pieces to a whole new dimension. Literally. A Chanel suit in a heart-stopping mix of red and midnight blue is the first to showcase so-called Selective Laser Sintering, a technique that is new to the Chanel repertoire, but promises to become as iconic as its trademark tweeds.
A highly technical and complicated Additive Manufacturing technology, SLS uses high-power lasers to fuse particles into three-dimensional shapes – in the case of Chanel’s haute couture pieces, introducing unexpected volume and three-dimensionality to the most traditional of silhouettes. The pieces are moulded, rather than sewn, and are seam-free, reflecting the light like iridescent honeycombs.
“The idea was to take the most iconic jacket from the 20th century and turn it into a 21st-century version, which was technically not possible at the time it was born,” Lagerfeld explains.
A melding of the old and the new, Chanel’s 3-D suits are sent down the catwalk in countless iterations – in glimmering black and silver, elegant ivory and multi-hued tweed versions. They are painted, edged with leather, inlaid with jewels and embroidered with beads.
Elsewhere, tweed dresses and suits are trimmed with the new “Chanel braid” and there is an underlying interplay between the feminine and the masculine, with simple pencil skirts cut just above the knee and then teamed with scoop necks, wide shoulders and turned-up cuffs draped like a rolled sleeve. Silhouettes are exaggerated and uncompromising, in a muted palette of black, grey, navy, white, gold, mauve, pink and green. There is one other pop of red that seems somehow misplaced.
It’s all quintessential Chanel, with the odd twist. Evening dresses have layered skirts and asymmetrical hems – short in the front and long in the back. The angles here are as extreme as those of the models’ bobs. The materials and finishes introduce a sense of softness, however: beautiful swathes of lace, faille, silk, raffia, tulle, organza, duchess satin, taffeta and chiffon, artfully adorned with countless applications of feathers, sequins and beads. Loose, long cocktail dresses with feather fringing, reminiscent of the flapper era, are set against stiff, structured, full-skirted gowns.
There are 67 looks in total and each is meticulously crafted. For as much as the autumn/winter 2015-16 collection pays tribute to modern-day technologies, it is age-old craftsmanship that lies at the heart of Chanel’s haute couture offering.
The process starts with a Lagerfeld sketch, which is first produced in muslin and then presented to the designer on a mannequin. Next comes the selection of fabrics and tailoring techniques. The house’s two tailoring ateliers are home to 50 “petite mains” dedicated mainly to tweeds, wool and leather, and another 50 working with tulle, organza, muslin, crêpe, lace and other such delicate fabrics.
On average, a Chanel suit represents about 200 man-hours and a dress can involve between 300 and 600 hours of work. In some cases, bridalwear can take more than 1,000 hours to produce – although probably not in this instance.
Kendall Jenner closes the show, cementing her standing as the model of the moment. Barely recognisable beneath her razor-sharp bob and reiterating those masculine elements that have interspersed the show, Jenner sports a wide shouldered, double-breasted, white satin suit – complete with epaulettes, four pockets and two rows of buttons. The only nod to convention is a billowing tulle veil and a trademark Chanel camellia brooch on her lapel and in her hair. Lagerfeld’s tuxedo bride is a fitting synopsis of the collection as a whole – respectful of tradition, but only up to a certain point.
After the show, Chanel’s top clients would have been invited back to the brand’s Rue Cambon boutique for private viewings, and the stunning creations adjusted according to private preferences. The rest of us will have to be content with having witnessed a moment of celebrity-infused magic.
sdenman@thenational.ae