With the recent appointment of Matthieu Blazy to the Creative Director of Chanel, I decided to revisit a collection from a beautiful era in the Maison. During the Fall 2010 couture collection, Karl Lagerfeld was still producing greatness. Having spent over 20 years with a complete harness over prêt-à-porter, and eventually, the entire creative initiative, he bled Chanel and never had to worry about stepping too far from its roots, as the brand swayed and glistened under the same light as his own visions. As he had reported to Vogue following the show, his ideas often came to him in dreams, and this collection had approached him in a nightmare.
This was a humored remark, and still, I would not be surprised had it been true. The medieval tones of the line are positively delicious – Lagerfeld claims his inspiration for the collection was the Lion, the astrological sign of the late Gabrielle.
Different categories call in the garments, as there is a featured string of knight-inspired silhouettes, with high, rounded shoulders and icy silver fabrications. Dresses with fur collars, dark colors and floral patches that remind you of your grandmother's chintz couch, thick jewelry and embellishments to isolate waify wrists.
A few dresses were more calling of astrological beauty and less of the sign (notice the violet and plum fabrics, a bottom panel looking similar to the stars in a night sky), and some channeled a complete darkness with navy and noir, only heightened by thick chiffon or constructed ornaments of gold. When the collection was not grim and romantic, it was either perfectly suitable for a Lannister or a post-war socialite from the 1940’s. Boxy hips and shoulders, wide sleeves and an argument between a little belted waist or a long, slender torso.
What about this line is so whimsical to me? I will always have a bias towards the friendship between extremely dark colors and bright gold. The cooler tones of the icier looks, channeling a valiant chainmail with red lipstick, or the fur cuffs adorned to the autumnal outerwear. The weaving of thick coats, thick boots of gold plaster, the color schemes and red lips feels Narnian, like a dark fairytale.
Stepping out of a few bold years at Bottega Veneta, I’m wondering how much callback to the iconic styles will be imagined by Blazy. His reputation has thrived under Bottega because, well, many would argue he has reimagined and engaged the brand entirely (Bottega = Blazy, and vice versa). Chanel needs life pumped back into its collections, and while the extravagance and satisfyingly high output of collections of Karl Lagerfeld is unlikely to be replicated, I think there is high potential. Blazy’s Fall 2023 collection, for example, has some of my favorite creations to date by the house, many of which I can reimagine with less modernity for his new home at Chanel, which is much less minimalist. From a career so obsessed with leathers and inflated silhouettes, I only hope we see the poise that we hold so dear to the name.