“Reality is of no interest to me. I use what I like. My Greece is an idea.” ~Karl Lagerfeld
Chanel's cruise collections have been known for awe worthy destinations with innovative themes. The 2018 cruise collection was shown last week at the Grand Palais in Paris, a favorite of Chanel's venues perhaps due to its easily transformative nature. With doric columns and Grecian temple remains, the show transported the audience back in time, to Ancient Greece, mimicked to perfection. Karl Lagerfeld's attention to detail was evident in the set with the painted backdrop showing water below the 'constructed temple' which acted as the runway. Multi-coloured gladiator shoes paired with gilded jewelry, twined with Chanel tweed. The collection is a homage to Ancient Greece. Karl Lagerfeld's ability to make the past, the present, the old, the new and the ancient into modern is exemplary.
The initial idea of the collection was moulded by Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel herself, who often looked to past eras for motifs and themes, and some resonated with her. The baroque period being one, often found in Chanel designs, and Ancient Greece being another. In 1922, she designed the costumes for Jean Cocteau's play Antigone and her apartment on Rue Cambon featuring a sleek marble Venus, to this day. The collections 'pottery dresses' and 'column shoes' were unlike anything seen before. Lagerfeld noted the tensions of our own world and how his collection spoke in its ethereal, antique theme, that the past often frames the future saying, “It is really about the youth of the world in all its power and unpredictability - just like the unforgiving gods."
The show entitled “La Modernité de l’Antiquité” [The Modernity of Antiquity] featured serpent armbands, bejeweled corsets, flowing pastel dresses, Athenian headdresses with Greek tunics in thick tweed of blues and grays, tied at the waist with gold belts and fringed edges. About the collection Lagerfeld stated that“The criteria of beauty in ancient, then classical, Greece still hold true. There have never been more beautiful representations of women. Or more beautiful columns. The entire Renaissance, in fact, was based on Antiquity.” The foundation of our own modernity goes back to Ancient Greece as the ideas born then have become our symbols. Karl Lagerfeld shaped this notion throughout his collection. The intricate placement of ideas within his collection gave a classic feel that reflected the depth of fashion that goes beyond eras.