Chanel Releases Digital Cruise Show PLUS! The Latest On Karl Lagerfeld’s Will

Chanel had to cancel their May 7th Cruise show due to COVID-19, but the brand released a digital version of the collection today called Balade en Méditerranée’ (A trip around the Mediterranean). “Initially I had Capri in mind, where the show was supposed to take place, but didn’t happen in the end because of lockdown,” Chanel creative director, Virginie Viard said in a statement. “So we had to adapt: not only did we decide to use fabrics that we already had, but the collection, more generally, evolved towards a trip around the Mediterranean… The islands, the scent of the eucalyptus, the pink shades of the bougainville.”

Viard and her team started working on the collection in early May and put it together in three weeks.

BOF is reporting today that despite industry pressure to change the system, they’ll be sticking with what works for them. The brand will continue to produce its six-shows-a-year: two prêt-à-porter, two haute couture, Croisière (Cruise) and Métiers D’Art. “I don’t know if the right number is two or six; it’s up to each brand,” Bruno Pavlovksky, Chanel’s president of fashion activities said. “But we are quite advanced in the calculation of our carbon impact, all the time we’re making a lot of progress in our approach. And we feel it’s important to do these shows. We still need to have the creative freedom to express each moment.”

In other Chanel related news…The Daily Mail is reporting that Karl Lagerfeld’s trusted accountant, Lucien Frydlender, has gone MIA since September 2019. The catch? He hasn’t distributed funds from Lagerfeld’s will yet. His wife is telling reporters that the 87-year-old is ill. The Daily Mail reports Lagerfeld has left money to Brad Kroenig, and his son Hudson, Baptiste Giabiconi, Jake Davies, and his beloved cat, Choupette’s caretaker. It is believed his estate was worth $200 million Euros.

Karl Lagerfeld and Choupette (Net-a-Porter)

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