Karl Lagerfeld, the designer, artist, photographer, and creative director of two major fashion houses, has unveiled his 13th Metiers d'Art collection for Chanel on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 in Rome.
The annual presentation held by Mr. Lagerfeld has been previously hosted in Dallas, Salzburg and Edinburgh. This year, the mogul stated that he wanted to create a homage to Paris."The best Paris, the most romantic Paris and to nostalgia for an idealized version of the city that never really existed." He transformed the streets of Rome into a look back into idealized Paris of the past. Complete with black and white makeshift facades, strings of lights and dated streetlamps to set the scene and take an audience back in time.
The planning for this year's event began month's before the terrorist attacks took place in Paris in November of this year. Lagerfeld stated in an interview with the New York Times that, “We could never have known what was about to happen. But it seems very fitting to salute Paris and its way of life when the reality of the city at the moment is so black”. It is so ironic for such a major event in the fashion community to so closely relate to recent world events. It is at the same time uplifting that Lagerfeld was unintentionally able to remind the world what a beautiful and breathtaking city Paris is.
Karl Lagerfeld's goal in this project was to remind the world of the romanticized version of Paris, he wanted to convey in his presentation an iconic tribute to the city of love. He stated, "Times today are not that romantic. We need to work on that.” The film set used to set the scene for the evening was inspired by a Left Bank neighborhood of the 1960's.
Eight hundred guests were invited from all over the world to view the event in person. Once the guests arrived in Rome, they were escorted to a cocktail party taking place directly on the set. Following, guests were moved to an outdoor cinema where they had the privilege of watching Lagerfeld's film "Once and Forever" starring Kristen Stewart and Geraldine Chaplin. The film paid homage to the Chanel brand's founder, Coco Chanel. After the film, guests were invited to take their seats to watch 62 models parade the faux streets in Parisian inspired apparel.
The fashion show began with models emerging from a Metro station exit. Some of the looks of the night included pieces such as leather skirts, backless stilettos, and pea coats. Tweed, an iconic fabric in Chanel designs also made an appearance several times on the runway. Lagerfeld incorporated small bags shaped like vintage cameras to further set the time period for the theme of the show. Most of the clothing showcased in the event were black and white in color or of a generally neutral color palette. This decision was intentionally made by Mr. Lagerfeld because he stated “That’s just how they did it in the old days, too, in the days of silent movies,”. The Show's finale showcased Lagerfeld's godson Hudson and other young models carrying the faux Chanel tabloid paper titled "The Roman Express."
