The Chanel ready-to-wear collection is a showcase held by luxury fashion house Chanel biannually for spring-summer and autumn-winter seasons during Paris Fashion Week to an audience of media, retailers, buyers, investors, and customers, under the auspices of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode.
Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2012 Runway Show The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2012 Runway Show was presented on October 4, 2011 at the Grand Palais in Paris. With a massive seascape production, which Vogue described as spectacular and risk-taking, Creative Director Karl Lagerfeld unveiled 84 new looks with unconstructed jackets, cutaway backs, ostrich feather skirts, and sequined dresses in a lighter, iridescent palette of whites, creams, nudes, and metallics that shifted to pinks, corals, and blacks.
For a sportier element, Lagerfeld added drawstring waists and bomber jackets. The collection featured a variety of fabrics ranging from tweed, organza, lace, chiffon and lamé to knit, silk, and leather. With a slight 1920s influence, design details included drop-waists, pearl belts, seaweed panniers, boxy tweed jackets, and ruffles that mimicked sea sponges. There were also aquatic-themed accessories with handbags, shoes, and jewelry shaped as seashells, conch shells, and coral.
The production included stylized, oversized installations of giant sea life sculptures: stingray, sea horse, shark, anemone, and coral branches in a variety of matte, glossy, and sparkly finishes.
Florence Welch provided the soundtrack with a live performance of "What the Water Gave Me." Saskia de Brauw opened the runway show. Freja Beha Erichsen, Arizona Muse, Karlie Kloss, Tao Okamoto, Heidi Mount, Fei Fei Sun, Lindsey Wixson, Miranda Kerr, Joan Smalls, Candice Swanepoel, and Liu Wen were amongst the models who also walked the show. Stella Tennant closed the presentation.
Fashion Critic Tim Blanks described the runway presentation as "a magical underwater environment." Following the October 4, 2011 presentation, Blanks asked Lagerfeld at what point did the theme of the undersea world assert itself on the collection. Lagerfeld replied, "Nothing is more modern than the shapes in the ground of the sea who have billions of years. The sea is the same all over the world; so it's a manualization in a very modern, graphic way—and where pollution hadn't reached yet."
Blanks noted the paradoxical metaphor of creating something very modern out of something very old. "I'm happy you say that," noted Lagerfeld. "In fact, the oldest things are the most modern in a way."
Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2012 Runway Show The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2012 Runway Show was presented on March 5, 2012 at the Grand Palais in Paris. Vogue Runway described the runway set as the Fortress of Solitude. Karl Lagerfeld transitioned from the depths of the ocean to the center of the Earth with 68 new looks.
The presentation's featured silhouette focused on a three-piece ensemble of jacket, shirt, and pants. The collection's dichotic inspiration sources were mineralogical and cubist. Embroidered crystals along the hemlines and cuffs referenced the former influence, while color-blocking and the angularity of the design details evoked the latter. Even the models' eyebrows were embellished by the couture embroidery house, Maison Lesage.
Vogue UK described the collections as a feast of color and texture with a feel of sorcery; this season's palette included petrol green, purple, emerald, amethyst, and sapphire. Michel Gaubert provided the runway soundtrack. Kati Nescher opened the runway show. Stella Tennant, Caroline Brasch Nielsen, Karmen Pedaru, Cara Delevingne, Edie Campbell, Lily Donaldson, Magdalena Frackowiak, and Bette Franke were amongst the models who also walked the show. Maria Bradley closed the presentation.
Tim Blanks described the pieces as new, seductive, yet wearable. Vogue Italia Editor in Chief, Franca Sozzani remarked of the collection, "It's so different from anyone, because it makes you feel like you're dreaming, but at the same time, you know that you could wear." When characterizing the runway design to Blanks, Lagerfeld said, "What is more modern? This looks like a city of skyscrapers that has exploded, in a way—so I think, nature is not such a bad designer, no? And the other inspiration in terms of cuts and shapes and embroideries is Czech cubism. I thought it was an interesting expression."
Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2013 Runway Show The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2013 Runway Show was presented on October 1, 2012 at the Grand Palais in Paris. Vogue Runway described the set as having an architectural modernism. With an installation of 13 oversized wind turbines and solar panels across the length of the catwalk signifying a message of sustainable energy, Lagerfeld unveiled 80 new looks. The set was designed to underscore the collection's theme of ease and serenity.
This season's featured silhouette statements were boleros and A-line skirts, dresses, and jackets. The creative director used three-dimensional chiffon cut-outs to create more lightness, volume, and movement. He eschewed his typical use of braids, buttons, and chains in favor of a more liberal placement of pearl embellishments for a look that he described to WWD as fresh and light, with different proportions and volumes. Lagerfeld, who is approaching his 30th anniversary as Creative Director of Chanel, continues to modernize the house, without reinventing its core aesthetic. This season, he showed cropped jackets, cocoon shapes, trapeze cuts, bell sleeves, wide-cut jackets, skirt-dresses, embroidered flowers, and organza pinwheels.
Kati Nescher opened the runway show. Yumi Lambert, Lily McMenamy, MacKenzie Drazan, Stella Tennant, Jacquelyn Jablonski, Iselin Steiro, Lindsey Wixson, Montana Cox, Kaitlin Aas, Aymeline Valade, and Cara Delevingne were amongst the models who also walked the show. Marte Mei van Haaster closed the presentation.
"No braids, no classic channel buttons, no chains—just pearls, pearls, and pearls, and that's all," as Lagerfeld described his new collection to Style.com's Blanks. "It's all about volume and lightness, because normally volume and lightness don't go together. Everything is airy."
When asked if this was the biggest thing he'd ever done, in terms of the production scale, the designer responded, "I don't judge my things in terms of size. Energy is the most important thing in life. The rest comes later."
Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2013 Runway Show The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2013 Runway Show was presented on March 4, 2013 at the Grand Palais in Paris. The House of Chanel marked its centennial anniversary with a production designed to celebrate the brand's market strength. An illuminated oversized globe spun in the center of the venue, with at least 300 pinned branded flags, one for every Chanel boutique, as the creative director ushered out 80 new looks to the soundtrack of Daft Punk's "Around the World."
The collection featured loose, bulky jackets, A-shapes, dropped-torsos, asymmetric hems, and statement sleeves. Fabrications included tweed, quilted silk, boucle wool, cashmere, chiffon. This season's palette featured black, white, teal, red, and grey. The darker collection was offset by glittering tweeds and woven metallics.
Ashleigh Good opened and closed the runway show. Xiao Wen Ju, Marine Deleeuw, Iris van Berne, Josephine Le Tutour, Nadja Bender, Daphne Groeneveld, Meghan Collison, Shu Pei Qin, and Louise Parker were amongst the models who also walked the show.
Actress and model Milla Jovovich said of the collection, "I love how he really brought in a lot of the essence of Coco Chanel into this collection, whether it was some of those more billowy coats—that was just so quintessentially Coco. I love how he is always able to take history and meld it with the future in the most beautiful, sensible way."
As told to Style.com, Lagerfeld noted of his collection, "It was dark, but I don't think it was sad. It's not easy to run around in pink all day. It's a very cosmopolitan, international look. It's a global look women can wear all over the world… An interesting thing is that today it's not that Europe, as big as the amount of shops, it's the rest of the world, it's the new world. And that's very interesting, because French luxury industry survives doing so well because there are all of those new fortunes in a new part of the world. And this is something I wanted to show too, that they see all the flags there in this new world… It's globalization, a fashion globalization."
Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2014 Runway Show The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Spring 2014 Runway Show was presented on September 30, 2013 at the Grand Palais in Paris. This season, Lagerfeld staged an art exhibit reminiscent of Andy Warhol, the designer referenced Pop Art for a Pop Fashion collection, ushering out 89 new looks. The Grand Palais was transformed into a huge gallery of paintings and sculptures. The pieces included iconic Chanel symbols such camellias, pearls, and a bottle of No.5.
Ensembles included shrunken sweaters, leather pants, flared skirts, and voluminous tweed jackets. Accessories varied from graffiti-style backpacks, canvas shoppers with bead appliqué, metallic leather mini purses, and logo-emblazoned plexiglass bags. This season's palette varied from white and black to pink and purple. As explained to WWD, Lagerfeld noted that the show's concept began several months ahead of the collection as satire and the idea that people overact to art today. The designer created an art installation of 75 pieces as a backdrop to his presentation.
Cara Delevingne opened runway show. Devon Windsor, Ming Xi, Ieva Laguna, Grace Hartzel, Holly Rose Emery, Grace Mahary, and Josephine Skriver were amongst the models who also walked the show. Lindsey Wixson closed the presentation.
When asked about the art installation, Lagerfeld replied, "I designed it. I made small models, and then they make it bigger. Yes, I made everything. It's not different young artists; only one old artist—it's me… And I think it was right for today, no? Because life is not a red carpet. This is for daily life; that was the idea in fact."
Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2014 Runway Show The Chanel Ready-to-Wear Fall 2014 Runway Show was presented on March 3, 2014 at the Grand Palais in Paris. This season, Lagerfeld's team transformed the Grand Palais into a 139,930-square-foot supermarket labyrinth, one that took each model 4.5 minutes to traverse. Monikered by Elle as the world's most luxurious and chicest supermarket, the Chanel Shopping Center was stocked with Chanel-branded merchandise, everything from doormats, paint pots, and chainsaws to Pringles, Coco Pops, and bath salts— even the guests' seats were fashioned out of cardboard boxes.
Remixes of Lady Gaga and Rihanna provided the runway soundtrack. A closing announcement created a bit of a fashion stampede, when the frenzied audience ran towards the runway clamoring for giveaways, "The shopping centre will be closing shortly, please help yourself to the complimentary fruit and veg and please come again."
The season's silhouette was anchored by hourglass shapes and strong shoulders. Most outfits were layered over leggings. Corseted waistlines and knee-length skirts were paired with trapeze coats. Fabrications included tweed, cashmere, jersey, knitwear, silk, leather, and chiffon. The multi-hued palette varied from pink, orange, yellow, and green, to burgundy purple, grey, and black. Featured accessories ranged from padlock necklaces and quilted headphones to sneakers and sneaker boots. With a sportier vibe, the show's setting made a commentary on everyday consumerism.