garance dore
I actually prefer the Chanel resort shows to the ready to wear. Shock, horror, i know. But the thing about resort is that it feels infinitely more wearable (which is actually the purpose of resort). And it also feels like Karl is embodying a particular character, a particular theatrical idea. He does themes well - remember the peggy guggenheim themed resort collection last year? or the pre-falls focussing on russia and shanghai? He takes these ideas - orient, cossack, folklore, 1930s decadence - and absorbs them into the well-oiled chanel machine until they emerge, quilted and red and oh so chic.
Resort this year was staged in St Tropez in an attempt to reclaim the locale for fashion everywhere. The last I remember of St Tropez it was a tourist haven. With Karl's magic touch, however, it is all flat leather sandals, petanque and Diane Kruger. The show was like Audrey Tautou's character in Priceless returning from a stolen night of bliss - sandals in hand, dress blowing in the wind and hair whipping around her face. The models skipped along the catwalk, some even with the ghosts of smiles on their make-up free faces, in designs so easy, breezy and beautiful it was hard to believe they were in a fashion show at all. The runway was the street, in more than one sense, and the fashion editors vied for views with the regular people milling around. It just seemed like people watching in a particularly chic part of France. And with the bright red chairs placed only 2 deep along the mile long runway and the guests plied with champagne and nibble the show had the atmosphere of a cafe catch up with friends... but better because there was chanel.
With this... 'economic crisis'... shops have started paying more attention to resort collections. And why not? they can go straight onto the shelves when they're ready and customers can buy them, and wear them, as soon as they see them. Unlike some of fashion at the moment - where you can be buying boots in the heat of summer and be desperate for a scarf in winter but can only find bikinis in the shop - resort and pre fall represent something that is rarely associated with the sartorial - PRACTICAL. Chanel is obviously paying attention. With a collection that would not look out of place in real life, on garance dore (who, incidentally, was there, see below), Karl has produced the kind of clothes that customers will want to buy and wear.
Unlike the fashion/yeti/snowman extravaganza of the RTW paris show that was highly produced, highly hyped, and highly theatrical, Resort in St Tropez is... well... only natural. And that's what matters for now.
style.com
And, just for fun - Diane, Caroline and Poppy at the resort show... oh what lives they lead!
garance dore
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