Rabu, 18 Desember 2013

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Karl Lagerfeld strikes again!


Back in 1957. October 14th. Coco Chanel landed in Dallas, Texas for a twelve-day journey at the invitation of Stanley Marcus who led luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. Even though the French rejected Chanel's comeback collection after World War II, he awarded her with the Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the field of fashion, the highest appreciation in fashion at the time. 

"I admire and love America. It's where I made my fortune. For many Americans, I am France." - Coco Chanel



On December 10th Chanel returned once again to Dallas for the Métiers d’Art (a.k.a. pre-fall) show. A tribute to craftmanship, heritage and manufacturing skills of the artisan workshops who collaborate with Chanel for decades including a milliner, shoemaker and glovemaker. "I can't do it on my own, to work the ideas out you need great people. Every detail is important. Everything has to be elaborate, refined and beautifully done. We are lucky we have the companies to do it," said Kaiser Karl.

They're lucky indeed. Everything looked stunning!
It was truly an epitome of Texas and American culture in general. "It's an idea of Texas, but not the common place of Texas. I didn't want the cowboy that everybody knows. It's a mix of refined American culture from the early years of the 19th century, but put into 21st century."

"Fashion is an idea, a feeling." - Karl Lagerfeld 

"You can have a local etnic inspiration, but at the same time it has to have an universal touch and not to be something folkloric," he said. The Chanel suit has become more oversized and it's worn with suede boots.  Cowboy hats. Little-House-on-the-Prairie-inspired dresses. Southwestern tapestry ponchos. Lariats. White feathered headdresses. Lots of denim and miles of fringe. The pattern from cowboy boots were put on tights. "It's a reinvention of something out of my mind, that's my job."

Before the show nine hundred guests collected at the Dallas' Fair Park for the première of The Return, the new movie by (who else but) multi-talent Lagerfeld. Dakota Fanning, Lily Collins and others gathered at a drive-in movie theater, complete with 74 oldtimers. The after-party was held at a saloon with a mechanical bull and a performance by British electronic band Hot Chip.

Earlier that day it was announced that actress Kristen Stewart is the new face of Chanel's western-inspired collection. The campaign has been shot by Karl Lagerfeld and will be released May 2014.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, but it doesn't get bigger than Karl's take on the Lone Star State.

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