DESCOSIDO: CHANEL Prêt-à-Porter Printemps Été 2012

Paris, le mardi 4 Octobre 2011
Le Grand Palais.

Freja Beha Erichsen

"The best thing you can do is dive with your imagination, you can never drown yourself."- Commented Karl Lagerfeld referring to his Chanel Ready to Wear Spring Summer 2012 collection.

            If this is Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (Twenty thousand leagues under the sea) you won’t want the journey to end: an impeccably white bottom of the sea setting that would make mermaids jealous, the powerful voice of Florence Welch, and clothes so light, that they seemed to float along the runway.
            A countless number of elements were present, but all of them where put together as harmoniously as Florence’s voice: ruffle skirts that came with a square or a backless jacket; large organza scales on dresses, black graphic lines on ivory knits, luminescent fabrics, baby blue seaweed print and iridescent sequins brought the magical sea story alive.
          Pearls came and went, not in the handful of long necklaces way you would usually expect from Chanel; models wore them around the neck or waist, on their hair, as a delicate under lip and eyebrow piercing, and down the back was the sexiest display.
           The color palette consisted mostly of pastels: mint green, baby blue, peach and pale pink, accented with metallic shine and the occasional black look.
          Footwear was kept simple and very bold with low-heeled metallic boots and sandals.
And because there is no such thing as a common place with Mr. Lagerfeld, almost no classic materials were used to elaborate this collection; instead, he opted for something modern like fiberglass, nylon and polyester that made bulky looking jackets light as a feather.