Karl Lagerfeld’s Homage to Paris at Haute Couture

When you’ve constructed a full-blown space rocket with faux-jets that actually ignite (without taking off), following up with a replica of the Eiffel Tower hardly seems over-the-top. With an uncanny laser vision for what’s next, Karl Lagerfeld smartly predicted the most apropos time to celebrate France, and more specifically, Paris. Emmanuel Macron was elected president in France, much to the relief of the majority of French citizens that voted for him and to many abroad, and post-show Anne Hidalgo, Paris’ mayor, presented Lagerfeld with its highest honor, the Médaille Grand Vermeil de la Ville. Although the show’s celebration of Parisian and French culture was conceived before those events were in motion, the tribute could not have come at a better time.

Reflecting the structure that loomed over the audience, the Haute Couture collection was dedicated to its perfection: all at once simple, complex, and magnificently out-of-reach. Each sculpted silhouette highlighted the incredible craftsmanship of Chanel’s petit mains and the brilliant designs of Lagerfeld that have kept this French house at the very pinnacle of fashion. The collection featured curvy hourglass coats and suits as well as linear tunics and jackets worn over skirts and pants cropped just above the ankle. The latter was the kind of thing only a woman with Eiffel Tower height could truly pull off as a full ensemble. Some of the most spectacular pieces were eveningwear gowns and cocktail dresses that fanned out in a bell shape like the legs of Paris’ famous landmark. Each look was topped off with a Chanel canotier hat, like the ones Gabrielle Chanel was famous for wearing. To spot an elegant woman trotting down the rue Saint-Honoré in one of these creations? Now that’s the kind of tourist attraction we would pay to see!