Lost in the cyber space of Chanel

Alina Aliman| October 6, 2016

Every season I wonder what Karl Lagerfeld is going to do next. I guess isn’t just me, but hundreds and hundreds of fashionistas and stars crowding in Grand Palais, the usual spot for the Chanel presentation during Paris Fashion Week. The invite (with a double C in form of some USB cables) suggested something about Chanel spring/summer 2017. (CLICK on the gallery above, for more pictures)

After an airport terminal (SS16), an art gallery (SS14) a brasserie (AW15), a casino (haute couture AW15) and a supermarket (AW14), this season, the space was transformed into a Data Centre with lots of wires and flashing lights, as well as little trolleys containing bundles of cables. In an ultra-technological world where daily life is increasingly dematerialised, Karl Lagerfeld puts humans back at the centre of everything by making “Intimate technology” the theme of his collection.

The collection, the news and the clothes, on www.chanel.com

“Without the human hand, without delicacy and savoir-faire, nothing would be possible. After all don’t two robots wearing two CHANEL suits thus prove, perhaps, that more than any technological breakthrough, it is femininity that truly transcends time?” – is the message that the French house tried to get heard.

This season more than ever, with grace and tenderness, femininity takes control in a collection that allies the audacity of lingerie and the comfort of tweed.

First, we saw babydoll and negligee in silk and lace. And over that the models nonchalantly sport a tweed jacket with rounded shoulders, long sleeves and wide lapels, and a pair of culottes zipped at the front and back. And a robot-clutch.
Then, the tech accents come: touch fasteners replace buttons, braiding becomes a thick jersey cable; woven multi-coloured tweeds include rubber strands and vinyl strips; cotton, denim and wool threads line up like countless electronic cables; collars and cuffs are swathed in embossed translucent gauze.
The details that counts: sleek clutch bags in perforated silver leather, flat shoes with cross over straps, and the big pendant necklaces that resemble ID badges, held on with a snap hook.
The colours: explosions of colour are everywhere over backgrounds of blue, red, yellow, pink, purple, black and navy, a mix of pastels and electric shades.