If there is one thing creative director Karl Lagerfeld knows how to do best, that would be raising the stakes. With a full-sized cruise-ship erected inside the Grand Palais in Paris, Karl unveiled the Chanel Resort 2019 with a runway show like no other on Thursday, May 3rd, 2018.
What better way to showcase a Cruise Collection than on a cruise? If you can’t find a ship to host your show, build one! And that’s exactly what Karl did when he constructed a 330-foot-long ocean liner on dry land to showcase the Chanel Resort 2019 collection.
Named La Pausa, after the villa in the South of France built by founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel in the thirties, the replica ship was the spectacular backdrop for Chanel’s cruise collection on Thursday night. Supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid were on hand to debut the nautical themed Chanel Cruise 2019 collection while Margot Robbie, Kristen Stewart, and Lily-Rose Depp were not left out as they enjoyed the show from the front row. The sound of seagulls, fog horns, and creaking ropes filled the air as dusk settled over the soaring glass-and-steel roof of the Grand Palais.
With the collection, Karl tackled the nautical theme with his usual verve, blending relaxed sportswear silhouettes with elements of Sixties pop such as miniskirts, white tights, and silver or white Mary Janes, including a version with faintly clinical rubber soles. Almost every look came with a handbag, including roomy cordage sacks and round lifesaver shaped purses. The collection also featured streetwear trend with items including shredded jeans, leather shorts with a frayed denim hem and tracksuits gussied up in the manner of its traditional tweed suits.
The clothes read both as a sentimental journey around the ’80s when Lagerfeld began designing for the house, and of the signatures – quilting, tweed, sailor pants, pearls, Scottish pieces of cashmere, camellias – that Gabrielle Chanel brought to fashion in the first place. Essentially, it was the first lifestyle collection, suited to the leisured classes’ penchant for sailing around the Mediterranean in the summer months.
After the show ended, gangplanks were lowered and guests filed into the hull for the after party.
A look at the collection…
CHANEL RESORT 2019 | Lookbook
Source: Vogue.com
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