A diverse crowd that included Laetitia Casta, Richard Gere, Clémence Poésy, and architect Peter Marino turned up for Karl Lagerfeld’s Fall 2012 Chanel Haute Couture show, which was held in the Grand Palais. The set was typically over-the-top; according to WWD the collection was shown atop a double stairway and the path to that stairway was lined with Chanel silk white camellia-topped trees. White wicker furniture and a ceiling mural painted with clouds that took three weeks to complete tied the room together and served as the backdrop for the “New Vintage” collection.
Fittingly Chanel’s signature camellia made its way onto a number of the looks, most notably the closing wedding gown, which boasted a princess skirt underneath a feather winged collar coat and as a closure on various dresses.
With 60-plus looks, the extensive collection ranged the color and style gamut and included day looks veering on the sporty side (think plaid), more envelope-pushing pieces (think a high shine pink column dress accented with balls of pink fur), and classic Chanel signatures (think menswear inspired pants worn with collared tops as well as a variety of two-piece tweeds).
While there was much to love in the collared dresses, high collared coats, oversized bow-finished tops, and camellia topped evening wear, there were some notable missteps, in particular a metallic hued pink and blue jumper and a shapeless patterned dress.
