métiers d'art

CHANEL
maybe because of the public's insatiable appetite for the next new thing, fashion's more subdued collections such as the resort and pre-fall are now garnering as much press and attention as the fall/winter, spring/summer, and haute couture shows. so its obvious that someone like karl lagerfeld can turn such somewhat mundane events into a media frenzy. just like his paris-montecarlo, and the most recent resort collection, held in montecarlo and los angeles respectively, karl and the chanel team travelled across the pond to jolly old england to unveil chanel's métiers d'art collection. since acquiring the legendary embroidery house of lesage, costume jeweler desrues, the cobbler massaro, feather artisan lemarie, and the milliner michel et cie, chanel not only became the authority on hand crafted arts, but also became in a broader sense, the savior of haute couture. ensuring that the talents of these artisans will always be supported. at a slightly higher price point than pret-a-porter, and considerably lesser than couture's astronomical prices, the main idea of this collection is to showcase the decorative arts that have provided such influence to the great couturiers past and present. can anyone really imagine schiaparelli without lesage? because of the higher price point of these clothes, karl presented a luxurious collection fitting the elevated taste of the clientelle who are familiar with expensive fabrication and attention to detail. perhaps to please his host country, lagerfeld used traditional british fabrics such as tweeds in prince of wales checks and houndstooth favored by coco chanel herself. the british elements were mixed in with sixties left bank parisian bohemian chic with the towering beehives and deep eyeliner. all in all this collection felt a lot more like a couture collection that ready to wear, but then again, if it wasn't for those artisans, what would couture be like?



photo: style.com