Daily Front Row

2007 June 20

Chanel - Resort 2008

Chanel
View Gallery

(LOS ANGELES) A little bit schoolgirl, a little bit St. Tropez, a little bit techno—and a whole lotta jet set. At Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel cruise fashion show Friday, a light-hearted take on the theme of private travel featuring models descending from two double C-branded Challenger 601 jets in Hangar 8 at the Santa Monica Airport, the apple didn’t fall far from the Fall/Winter ’07 tree. Traces of Lagerfeld’s recent preoccupation with preppy, Parisian jeune filles still remained, most visible in his back-again plastic baubles, long-sleeved cotton shirt dresses topped with nubby vests (very buttoned up indeed), and tweed suits featuring knee-length A-line skirts. |page|
But as the 60-look extravaganza for 500 progressed, his heroine appeared to have graduated university and come into her inheritance. She loosened up with high-waisted wide-leg faded blues paired with flowy white button-downs that borrowed equally from school uniforms as peasant blouses, adding fanciful, fabulous touches such as protest-rocker-chic bandanas or oversized wide-brimmed hats. 
She got cheeky-sporty in short-short getups featuring color-blocked sweaters or high-tech track jackets in juicy, splashy paillettes.|page| But as her minimal navy maillot attested, this wasn’t a Girls Gone Wild sort of vacation, and even her flirtiest evening get-ups, like peek-a-boo crochet LBDs, were backed with nude chiffon for modesty’s sake. It might have been her first playful taste of adulthood, but she was self-possessed as a pro.