Friday, January 26, 2007

KL

Karl Lagerfeld is a little scary. And I don't just mean the omnipresent leather pants, fingerless biker gloves, and surfeit of Chrome Hearts jewelry. Rimbaud Goes to Sturgis is his look, he's been working it for a long time now, and more power to him.


(As we say in the South: Bless his heart!)

No, his Effete Goth thing doesn't scare me. (Amuses & puzzles, but doesn't scare.) What honestly sends chills down my spine occasionally is how consistently uncanny he is at making truly fresh and wonderful clothes that are instantly identifiable as Chanel. He's been designing Chanel for over 20 years now and he still somehow manages to pull this off at the rate of something like four collections a year. And on top of Chanel, he also designs for Fendi and his own Lagerfeld line. (Am I forgetting any? There's probably more.) It's pretty remarkable.

Now, I'm not so naive as to believe that Mr. Lagerfeld is responsible for every sketch of every garment for all three houses. I'm sure he has platoons of minions backing him up (many of whom he very generously and charmingly shared the limelight with by bringing them out to take a bow with him during the finale of his latest Chanel Couture show. Well done, Mr. Lagerfeld, and astonished bravos to les petits mains of the House of Chanel, so brilliantly upholding the traditions of haute couture.) But from what I can gather about Mr. Lagerfeld, safe money says nothing actually gets a label on it until he's given it the (leather-mitted) thumbs up.

This latest Couture collection once again brilliantly illustrates his ability to channel Coco. Fall 2006 Couture was also gorgeous, leaning more toward the gamine Parisienne side of the Chanel spectrum. This week's clothes, however, hang smack down the traditional center of the house like a strand of Coco's trademark pearls, and they took my breath away. Here's a few of my favorites:









I was especially thrilled to see the tulle evening skirts, since not long ago I got my hands on this little baby:



She was just hanging there in the vintage store, waiting patiently for me. I'd seriously been searching for a tulle skirt like this for a few years now. Whaddya know, me & Karl are on the same page!

At any rate, be sure to check out the whole show, it's beyond gorgeous. And don't forget to look at the detail shots, because that's where Couture really makes its bones. In the meantime I'll be sashaying around my place in my tulle skirt. I'm going to pretend that Mr. Lagerfeld made it for me, then told me I looked fabulous, and then we went out for drinks at this cute little wine bar on the Place du Marché St. Honoré. À bientôt!

Photos: Style.com

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Rimbaud goes to Sturgis" is perfect description!