The Chanel spring summer 2008 runway collection show was not without its dramas. There was the pre-requisite celebrity filled front row, but that was nothing compared to the news that Karl Lagerfeld had rejected three models on the day for being ‘too skinny’. Karl said it was the first time he had ever done something like that.
“I have nothing against skinny girls. But these were terrible. They looked as if they had grown up in a Third World country with no food to eat,” he said.
That came as Gemma Ward was called “positively curvaceous” by the UK Telegraph (call it a compliment or whatever you may), and a model lineup that included Aussie Catherine McNeil, and the likes of Irina Lazareanu, Natalia Vodianova, Sasha Pivovarova, Lily Donaldson, Mariacarla Boscono, Coco Rocha, Raquel Zimmermann, Lisa Cant, Angela Lindvall, Anja Rubik, Jessica Stam, and Snejana Onopka.
But what was the show like?
Staged in the Grand Palais, the show was typically Chanel with smart tweed separates, ruffles, camellia accents, lust have bags and accessories and 1920s style hemlines and waistlines. But it was the addition of 70s style demin and body suits, silver chains weaving in and out of loopholes and rivets in dresses that gave the collection a fresh feel.
No doubt the accessorizing is aimed at the fashionistas who can’t afford a Chanel dress, but will fork out the hundreds for the brooches, shoes, bags and perhaps even the fingerless gloves.
[Images from Style.com]
Gemma Ward is positively curvaceous?!? For a model she probably is, but in the grand scheme of things she is still slim.
I don’t know if I liked this collection much. Same old from Karl, but there was not as many pieces I simply fell in love with.
I thought the collection was cute. I adored the multicoloured dress (same print as the one up top with the tennis racquet). Overall I agree with laura, though.
And good on Karl for rejecting the too too skinny models. I hope this will become the new trend.
Wearing an American flag is not cute. And I seriously hope the faded blue denim is not making a comeback. Not since the LV denim collection have I seen something so bad. Fortunately, there were still some classic outfits towards the end of the show.