Chanel’s autumn/winter 2012/13 haute couture collection responds to the idea of a ‘New Vintage’ and features a new attitude to the modern, elegant silhouette. Shapes are feminine and radiant, close-fitting and yet fluid with ankle and knee-skimming lengths.
The emblematic House tweed is reinvented as patchwork, transforming little suits with relaxed shoulders, shift dresses and pleated skirts.
Wools cleverly combine materials in an array of delicate shades; greys are dotted with pinks – powder, raspberry and salmon. Even handbags are embellished with an interwoven woollen chain.
A series of little coats, capes and reinterpreted riding coats have sleeves with wide cuffs that echo the turned-up collars and necklines joined by frog fasteners.
Black sculpted into diaphanous organza, pink pleated entirely by hand, white adorned with feathers and grey braided with ribbons, it’s all about the blouse... partnered with wide trousers in lace, ivory woollens and silk organza embroidered with sequins.
Embroidered or appliquéd metallic sequins illuminate coats, emphasise long sleeveless overcoats and electrify a pleated skirt trimmed with a brilliant pink paint.
Evening dresses mark the show’s finale. Diaphanous fabrics are light as a feather. A tulle veil rests delicately over a crepe embroidered with organza flowers, cascades of lace tumble over a chiffon gown while bands of crepe, chiffon and patent leather slip horizontally down another silhouette finished with a pink bow at the shoulder.
Jewelled buttons accentuate the sensuality of nude backs – “a beautiful back can be just as pleasing. It’s less compromising than a décolleté!” laughs Karl Lagerfeld.
In sparkling tights and two-tone pumps with metallic heels and toe caps highlighting the curve of the instep, the heroine of this collection cultivates 21st-century femininity.
For the Chanel 2012/13 autumn/winter haute couture collection Karl Lagerfeld illustrates the virtuosity of the Chanel ateliers and their constantly renewed creativity that’s so essential to haute couture.