“Paradox. A mix of severity and frivolity,” said Karl Lagerfeld, explaining his high concept for Chanel’s spring haute couture. “That’s what modern sexiness is: ambiguity.” Think an impeccable plain jacket contradicted by a frothy-and-flounce skirt, or a cloudy tulle shrug grounded by a plumb line-straight column of black crêpe. Or perhaps a dress cut as sportily as a tank at the top that becomes a trail of extravagant frills by the time it reaches the floor.
The last, worn by Liya Kebede and glinting with silver sequins, is a natural for the red carpet, and it sent the Hollywood stylists a-scribbling in their programs. The awards shows, needless to say, are a major bullet point on the couture-week agenda, and Lagerfeld checked it off to perfection. There was, though, a new sense of restraint in this collection. By rebalancing delicacy with discipline, Lagerfeld put just as much emphasis on defining the Chanel jacket as on all-out femininity. Those jackets—narrow, linear, and undecorated—hit at the top of the hip without a hint of cinch or cling, the better to contrast with a tulle puff of a skirt below. He also flipped the intellectual equation by working upper-body volume in billowing poet blouses paired with something straight and to the knee.
Of course, making an elegant withdrawal from overt display is all relative when it comes to the haute couture. Intertwined with Lagerfeld’s play of opposites was the subtle planting of 3 million euros’ worth of spectacular Chanel fine jewelry.
