Chanel’s Lagerfeld goes chasing waterfalls at Paris show
PARIS — Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld has outdone himself at Paris Fashion Week, creating a lush indoor canyon complete with six spectacular waterfalls — all for a 20-minute Chanel catwalk show.
Lagerfeld’s latest spectacle paid homage to the Verdon Gorge, France’s answer to the Grand Canyon. Artisans spent two months recreating a life-like replica of the French natural wonder located in the region of Provence.
The setting, with myriad mossy rocks and waving trees, left stunned guests reaching for their cameras.
It was a welcome moment of tranquility away from the urban bustle of nearby Champs-Élysées and the tumult of Paris Fashion Week.
The falling water of the decor filtered into Chanel’s spring-summer styles as gentle aquatic tones, playful water-proof garments, and beautiful interlocking layers of fabric that cascaded down the models’ torsos.
Model-of-the-minute Kaia Gerber set the tone of the collection as she opened the show in a loose woven tweed jacket with strong ‘80s shoulders in pale blue, paired with sheer PVC boots and waterproof hat. Her mother Cindy Crawford watched from the front row.
Elsewhere, a hazy lacy outer layer on an oversize white chiffon blouse resembled a ripple of water.
Lagerfeld delicately captured the downward dynamic of the waterfall backdrop to produce the strongest of the exhaustive 88 looks. Guests reached for their cameras to capture the threads on a shaggy, soft pink sweater that hung down onto a limp ruffled skirt evoking underwater flora.