Karl Lagerfeld has always been pretty adept at drawing on a wide range of disparate references to make one very satisfying collection. Such was the case with his fall show at Lagerfeld Gallery, where sports influences, menswear tailoring, and slinky chiffon eveningwear all mingled happily on the same runway.
Lagerfeld opened with a selection of sexy, sportif snow parkas and anoraks, which then morphed into masculine wool pantsuits, some featuring leather panels inlaid at the waist, worn with substantial-collared white cotton shirts. He also showed some great zippered jackets, cut close to the body from purple astrakhan or brown leather. Evening meant a series of slinky chiffon dresses, long and short, which came pleated and trimmed with leather. At the close of the show, Lagerfeld made another reference, this one inadvertent: He quick-stepped around the runway in a natty silver-gray suit that would have looked just as good on one of his models. The designer himself as inspiration? Now there's a source worth quoting.
