All photography by Sarah Blais for SLEEK 61
Central to the luxury trends of the last two years has been a dedication to studied indifference – statement trainers instead of elevated heels, bags you wear instead of bags you carry, utilitarian outerwear you forget about once you’re in it instead of coats that need adjusting. As a consequence, the fashion industry is constantly pondering the question of whether couture is relevant or not. But in a season where even the most prolific high fashion streetwear designers have moved towards sophistication and the legacy of classic tailoring, Karl Lagerfeld’s latest and last Chanel Spring/Summer 2019 couture collection, debuted at Paris Fashion Week in January, proves that there’s important innovation to be found in the art of couture – and couture only. Following the passing of one of the last great couturiers, this is an important time to consider the cultural impact of couture.
Runway collections are a time to see a fashion house exactly as its creative director imagines it. So when we see Lagerfeld’s vision of Summer 2019 couture, we’re getting 15 minutes of what Chanel – the world’s oldest couturier – now stands for. This spring, it is an intelligent glamour: an ostrich feather full-length skirt was worn with a silk-soft button up leather jacket, floral embroidery made out of plexiglass; a blouse fixed with over 600 beads, and flowers covered in a ceramic glaze. Finally, there was also a bridal look, a shimmering silver swimming costume with matching swimming capturned- veil and mule heels, which brought the social media age into the equation and was shared widely on Instagram – an audience the German designer was consistently talking to. Lagerfeld’s definitive Chanel vision extended to his carefully selected models, who included Adesuwa Aighewi and Kaia Gerber, some of the most successful women in the business.
Lagerfeld’s Spring 2019 couture collection conjured images of a glamourous French summer via the creation of Villa Chanel, a Parisian-style chateaux imagined inside the Grand Palais. Lagerfeld was inspired by 18th century France, yet this was no Marie Antoinette homage: the spirit of the collection was kept contemporary via lashings of Eighties references, the era when Lagerfeld became Chanel’s creative director in 1983. The villa was strewn with glamourous figures and looked similar to La Vigie, Lagerfeld’s former residence in Monte Carlo where, in the Nineties, he would regularly host his artist and intellectual friends. Elsewhere, there were other nods to the Eighties on show, too. These included: rara dresses in mouthwash green carrying a spray of applique flowers; backcombed buns styled by Sam McKnight, and a black dress with protruding shoulders paired with Sade-style eyeshadow. The soundtrack was created by Lagerfeld’s longtime musical collaborator Michel Gaubert, and featured the 2001 remix of the 1974 hit single Parole, Parole by the Italian popstar, Mina.
Alongside glamour was the enduring pulse of skill and craftsmanship that has gone into each of Lagerfeld’s Chanel couture collections. For Lagerfeld’s Villa Chanel show, the creative director’s ateliers, led by Lagerfeld’s successor Virginie Viard, created designs in the Chanel’s Métiers d’Art workshops, which included plush silk ribbon, expertly executed handmade lace and of course, Chanel’s signature tweed. These pieces chimed with the event’s sources of inspiration, which included the radicalism of the Marchands-mercier, the history of French luxury craft, and the vanguard attitude to haute fashion that has for decades made Paris the centre of groundbreaking design.
But a walk down memory lane eulogising a period in history isn’t how Lagerfeld did things. As we saw with his tribute to the booksellers of Paris in his Autumn/Winter 2018 couture collection, Lagerfeld’s interest in fashion was always tied to modernity and craft. In 2019, there are only a handful of people who can make couture, and these new garments prove its importance – beyond the usual fashion week glamour and facade – as an art form.
If there were ever a time for revisiting innovative, aspirational fashion, it’s now. Historically, periods of economic austerity are when creativity has peaked. During the Second World War, a time when rationing meant fashion was mostly consumed through images in magazines and adverts, women drew lines down the back of their legs to imitate tights. Is it any surprise, then, that Lagerfeld’s bridal outfit from Paris was liked by nearly 200k Instagram users? It’s an apt response for a design that would have taken dozens of hours to make and resonated with those who love the craft of couture, and with a new generation of women who love couture for the sheer glamour of it. After his Paris show was over, the crowds slowly dispersed into a snowy Paris, whilst Lagerfeld’s legacy no doubt lives on.
This article originally appeared in the print issue of SLEEK 61.
