Photo Courtesy of Chanel Cruise 2017/18 by Olivier Saillant
The saying “there’s no place like home” has never sounded so true! Indeed, following last year’s presentation in Havana, Cuba, Karl Lagerfeld unveiled Chanel’s Cruise collection right where it truly belonged, in the Grand Palais’ Galerie Courbe. Only this year’s inspirations were lying at the core of the Greek Antiquity, from the deep-rooted culture to the beauty of it. Commenting on the theme, the designer said: “The criteria of beauty in ancient, then classical Greece still hold true. There have never been more beautiful representations of women. Or more beautiful columns. The entire Renaissance, in fact, was based on Antiquity. It is really about the youth of the world in all its power and unpredictability — just like the unforgiving gods.”
Dedicated to an idealized vision of Greece, the collection “La Modernité de l’Antiquité” – translating into “The Modernity of Antiquity”- dives into a traditional sea of inspiration, dropping not-so-subtle hints of elegant draping, silhouettes in tweed and jersey, silk and linen, lace and crepe. Think a Greek fiesta with column-heeled gladiators, Olympic laurels as head ornaments and golden cuffs and bracelets. Think minaudières and clutches in draped leather or bronzed exotic skins. Think Chanel’s Gabrielle Bag in marbled leather. Think a French story gone Greek.
"Reality is of no interest to me. I use what I like. My Greece is an idea,” Lagerfeld says.
Everything screamed “Ancient Greek” as the great Lagerfeld painted a beautiful canvas of Greek sleeves and belted waists, worthy of a rich history. Layers of ancient times piled up into the pieces, giving way to engraved owls, prints with laurel crowns and oak leaves with hidden camellias arched into the House’s ethos, the double-Cs.
Chanel’s elegant lingo was resonating loud and clear in its Parisian home and Chanel ambassadresses were joyfully swaying to the rhythm of it, from Keira Knightley to Anna Mouglalis, Caroline de Maigret, Ellie Bamber and Clotilde Hesme, the young American actress Yara Shahidi, the French actresses Isabelle Huppert and Marine Vacth, the Chinese actress Liu Shi Shi, as well as the directors Pedro Almodóvar and Deniz Gamze Ergüven.
Sift through the Photo Gallery below to view the collection.
