SPRING 2013 HAUTE COUTURE

You might be shivering - depending where you read this, but the creative force of nature known as Karl Lagerfeld is already prepping the Spring Summer Couture collection at CHANEL.   What hint is Karl giving us with the just released invite?   We've seen Lions and Gardens and Windmills - OH MY!  Could vineyards and Vin be up next for Spring??  Stay Tuned!!

CHANEL AT IT'S BEST

SARAH JESSICA PARKER IN CHANEL RESORT 2011/12 - VOGUE MAGAZINE PH: MARIO TESTINOOne of the highlights of any luxury house of fashion is the yearly offering that they call "Resort" or "Cruise".   These historically colorful collections hit the boutiques around the middle of October and are jam packed with collectible pieces that can punch up your wardrobe for years to come.

As recently as the late 80's there were just a few items in these holiday collections.   Today however, the biggest names in fashion have turned a small concept into a full fledged runway show.   Case in point - CHANEL RESORT 2011/12.    Staged at the Hotel Du Cap - Eden Roc in Antibes, the collection was colorful, playful, and sexy.   While designer Karl Lagerfeld is more comfortable with Baroque or Lady than he is with femme fatale or sexy, the proportions were sensual.

The very fashionable Sarah Jessica Parker showcased the best suit from the collection in the August issue of Vogue.  Beautifully shot by Mario Testino, the fashion spread portrayed SJP's very busy and stylish life.

The yellow silk and wool tweed skirt suit is an homage to Coco Chanel herself.   The original proportions that made her a legend in the 1920's are recreated here in 2011.   Key details - fitted sleeve and high armhole jacket (one of Coco's secrets to a perfect fit),  4 buttons and a notched lapel that flatter the torso and bust, and skirt length.  The skirt was one of Coco's most unique and stringent areas of control.   Chanel said that knees were one of a woman's ugliest features and that skirts should always cover them!  LESAGE EMBROIDERED CHANEL GOWN - ST. TROPEZ PH: JASON JOBSONInteresting to point out that it was vanity, not modesty that kept her skirt lengths a little longer.   Pockets in skirts were also a signature Coco detail.   Chanel believed that women's clothing should be just as practical and funtional as menswear.  

A Chanel suit is one of the best investments any woman can make when growing her fashion wardrobe.   Even a colorful look like this will be relevent for as long as you are wearing clothes!

As practical as a wool tweed suit is, Chanel also offers some of the most luxurious fashion items in the world.   This Summer I visited their seasonal boutique in St. Tropez.   (Afterall, when you rent a multi-million dollar Villa and spend a fortune designing it to be a boutique, you can hardly call it a "pop-up store").   

Of all the beautiful items, one dress stood out.    A long sheath completely hand embroidered by the House of Lesage was the most striking piece in the boutique.   To look at a dress like this, and to know that the artisans at Lesage spent hours and hours and hours creating this floral landscape, makes it a true work of art.   To think that the lace fabric was then sent back to the house of Chanel, where the artisans of the Atelier then spent many more hours - cutting, fitting, sewing, and finishing this beautiful dress.   An item like this is one of kind - even if many are made, no two are alike, due to the hand finished nature of the piece.   It is this type of Savoir Faire that is present in every item stamped with the word CHANEL. 

Click any of the images above to view the latest Chanel RTW Collection.  Bon Voyage!

STELLA McCARTNEY PAINTS THE TOWN- "YES"

STELLA McCARTNEY-S/S 2010 - PHOTO: MARCIO MADEIRAAt least that is what the colorful backdrop painted by Trey Speegle spelled out at McCartney's show this week.   This subtle message, and the collection that followed, made it evident that Stella McCartney is in an upbeat mood for Spring 2010.   There were casual day looks and flirty, colorful pieces to wear at night.STELLA McCARTNEY-S/S 2010 - PHOTO: MARCIO MADEIRA

Something changed in Stella during the last 2 years.   Motherhood has definitely matured her tastes and her approach.   There is a marked difference in these collections.   Fall 2009 had serious but sexy lace pieces, and now Spring 2010 is blooming in colorful prints with flamenco ruffles that take you away!    It is the sophistication level that has changed.   Like great art work, harder to explain in words, but something you can just feel.  

McCartney first made a name for herself at the House of Chloe, succeeding Karl Lagerfeld as he ended his second stint at Chloe.  Karl helped put the house on the map in the 70's.  Stella burst onto the scene with the, then new, approach of mixing tailored suiting with soft, feminine items.  I was at those first Chloe shows in Paris and the collections were exciting and fresh.   As strong as those original suits were, this Spring 2010 Collection is stronger.  STELLA McCARTNEY AGAINST TREY SPEEGLE'S BACKDROP

Stella has matured in other aspects as well.  Each season, she has her runway backdrops painted by an artist whose work she appreciates, many times incorporating the work onto the invite to the show.   Also, there are contracts for several different collections that add another dimension to Stella McCartney as a brand.   The one- off collection for H&M, the new children's collection for GAP, and of course her ongoing collection for Adidas (All Day I Dream About Stella).   

Most Kudos should be given for her refusal to use leather in any of her collections of RTW, Accessories, or shoes.   A strict vegetarian, Stella has never budged from her stance on the issue, which is VERY difficult for any fashion house that is growing a business internationally.    Reason being, there are far fewer customers who can appreciate the value of a designer shoe, if it is not leather.

Physically, McCartney has changed as well.   Gone are the chubby cheeks of her youth.   In their place, motherhood has given her cheek bones!  Also, a lean, sinewy figure that suddenly makes her tiny frame seem 10 feet tall on the runway.    When she started at Chloe,  there was so much talk of her young age and baby face.   Well, make no mistake, Stella McCartney is all grown up.   After all, she is a wife, a mother, and at the helm of an international fashion house - that's not kid stuff!

To see the full collection, visit - STYLE.COM

HEE HAW! CHANEL GOES TO WALNUT GROVE!

CHANEL- Spring 2010 - PHOTO - MONICA FEUDIIf I didn't know better, I would think Karl read my post about Little House on the Prairie coming to broadway.  The king of RTW flung open the barn doors- literally at the grand palais in Paris yesterday for a roll in the hay - CHANEL Style.  

Laura Ingalls would be green with envy if Nellie Olson showed up in any of the gorgeous jackets and skirts that roostered around the runway.   There was hay on the floor and in the hair as Karl  gave a wink and  a nod to the age old  image of what goes on in the hay loft!    Who can forget  the classic scene in Mommie Dearest when Christina is off to college and trying to sew some wild oats (sorry, couldn't resist).   She was getting hot and heavy with a hunk in the stables when her  rival flung open the door and uttered that famous line "Oh.  I'm gonna TELL!".. and she did!    Cut to  the choking scene!CHANEL - SPRING 2010 - PHOTO- MONICA FEUDI

Anyway, back in Paris - Minnie Pearl wasn't there, but Rihanna and Prince were!  Thank Karl for bringing some lighthearted humor back to the fashion scene this season.   Lagerfeld always has a new trick up his sleeve for the setting of the most important show in Paris fashion week.   Although the runway usually has a theme based on one of the iconic CHANEL symbols - I guess Karl was feeling country!  Tweed, Pearls, Hay! One question...Where was Dolly Parton??  To see the whole Hoedown. visit Style.com  

KARL - KING OF RTW, COUTURE?- NOT SO ROYAL

KARL LAGERFELD You have heard the tale of the emperor's new clothes, but what can you say about the Kaiser with so many collections?  Karl Lagerfeld is the king of designer fashion.    Every designer wants to be him or have his job.   Magazines cover every project he is involved with - which is about 3 per day.   Every Japanese fashion fan worships him.   But when the Fall 2009 couture show came and went, I had to ask myself - is couture Karl's strong point?  Now you might say who cares?  Couture is out of touch with reality, right?   However, the unreal or at least untouchable world of couture is alive and well and is responsible (usually) for setting the image of any fashion house. CHANEL COUTURE -Fall 2009

With Chanel, it's the other way round.   Couture is more of a courtesy and provides bragging rights for the house.  Keep in mind that Coco never saw the RTW collection during her lifetime.   Every Chanel suit was Couture until her death at the age of 88 in 1971.  It's just that under the reign of KL the big WOW factor rarely happens at Couture like it does at RTW.CHANEL COUTURE- LESAGE EMBROIDERY-FALL 2009

Karl Lagerfeld is the most prolific designer alive.   He has had his hands in so many collections  over the last 50 years that I doubt he would be able to name them all.   The interesting thing is that Karl was never a couture designer and could not compete on that level.  His 50+ year  love/ hate friendship with Yves Saint Laurent was very much fueled by the fact that while both started their careers at the same time, it was Yves who was instantly embraced by the world of couture through the house of Christian Dior.  Karl on the other hand became affiliated with a string of high profile RTW collections from Fendi to Chloe and many more "ghost" designing assignments for companies with no public profile but tons of cash.  It was Chloe that put him on the map globally and Karl had two stints as the creative director of the house before Stella McCartney kick started the collection again in the mid 90's.   I was involved with Chloe during the end of Karl and the beginning of Stella and the sensation she brought to the house was amazing!

While Mr. L would never admit this bothered him, how could it not?  A man who revamps his family history more times than Coco herself did, each time coming off more gentry can hardly say he is not about image.

What Karl has done for Chanel is hands down the most amazing turn around in the fashion world- as interesting as Tom Ford for Gucci - even more-so maybe - because Karl has done it by revamping the classics over and over again while Tom started Gucci RTW from scratch which comes with it's own excitement.   Karl pushes the boundaries of playful and prudent and gives women another reason to buy a Chanel suit each season.    Lets not forget that handbags fueled the biz for the last 10 years - but the RTW is still the most prestigious collection in the world and hugely profitable for the house. 

The strange thing is - Karl is so strong with RTW that he upstages his own couture shows and you actually come away thinking - oh this or that look would have been cool from last season"s RTW.   Amazing, as no other designer could ever make you feel that way.    In terms of value though, any women would be better suited to buy 3 or 4 Chanel RTW suits for the same amount one couture creation would cost.   The quality of Chanel RTW is head and shoulders above any other brand - and I have to say that spending time in the couture salon of the house of Chanel in Paris is one of the highlights of my career.  The mystique of Coco's legacy still lives in every inch of the salon and in Coco's apartment above the salon.   However, at a certain point - do the extra small details warrant spending 10's of thousands of dollars if you are not a red carpet walker?  Especially in 2009?CHRISTIAN DIOR COUTURE- FALL 2009

John Galliano is the polar opposite.   His shows are always a fantasy - but his couture shows are more like an acid trip in creativity.   He gives till it hurts!   JG never seems to be bored  which is actually how Karl looked at the couture show.   Granted, Karl has 25+ years on Galliano - maybe we would all be bored by then!  Jean Paul Gaultier also showed a very strong couture collection.   There were many references to what the press are crediting to "Lady GaGa", but that really means Thierry Mugler - as he designs many of GaGa's looks!JEAN PAUL GAULTIER COUTURE FALL 2009

One of the most interesting details from the Chanel Couture show was the music.   Spin master Michel Gaubert kept your toes tapping with his mix of  La Roux "In For The Kill".   If you don't know the U.K. sensation - check out their website that has a very cool interactive home page!   Also, you must check out the video for this track - think blade runner meets V magazine!

Karl has been increasingly outspoken lately.   Most recently making derogatory statements about Heidi Klum and later her husband Seal.   It's almost like Karl is becoming Coco the older he gets!  Long live Kaiser Karl!!