Lagerfeld is a master of doing things that’ll get people talking, mere hours after this season’s “I am woman hear me roar” Chanel’s show, it had taken over the internet. A bit like last season then. The man isn’t a fool, for he knows that if there is one thing the internet’s proto-feminists don’t like, it’s being told what to do, especially if the one doing the telling is Chanel. This helpful hullabaloo may of been good for the headlines, but Lagerfeld also made sure to pay at least a few dues to the industry that has helped him make his name. He may have divided the Y-generation fashion crowd with his Chanel propaganda, but Karl still has a trademark eye for creating masterfully cut Chanel suits.
This season it was like an armour, – sporty tweed armour – blotted with thick saturated watercolours and finished with an oversized masculine edge. This aesthetic stemmed from the “hear me roar” hang up Karl pushed this season, and so it was, Cara, Kendall, Georgia and all the rest roared away.
Layers upon layers of said aesthetic was seen throughout the collection, interjected by some overtly military khakis, which the designer then contrasted with slinky diaphanous florals and a number of body-con jersey cardigan ensembles that harked back to Coco Chanel’s Breton stripe French countryside casual wear. Airy blouses that didn’t skimp on the excess cotton voile progressed the collection well, making for some nice dresses and splicing in a little more of the class that Chanel needs, which was a welcome change.
The finale saw SS15 descend into full scale pseudo-‘political’ pandemonium, as cool, detached and satirical as King K (iPhone 6 in hand) himself, set to songs from the Pet Shop Boys’ Introspective, which had an album cover that was no doubt pinned to Karl’s SS15 mood board. We’ll let the photographic evidence, that you’ve probably seen already, speak for it all. For a designer who is often accused of taking himself too seriously, he delivered a bombastic bon mot with a Chanel collection of charming ensemble pieces. One that has undeniably created ripples than will surely carry on for a few days or more.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com