The Chanel Haute Couture Fall 2017 collection was presented under a replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Grand Palais museum in Paris. The use of the Parisian landmark reaffirms Lagerfeld’s attachment to the city and its importance for fashion, something which he will be celebrated for following the show.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is to decorate the couturier with a Grand Vermeil medal, the city’s highest distinction. This is the highest distinction the city can offer in a merit system established in 1911 to recognise remarkable achievements in the service of the French capital. Lagerfeld and Chanel have pulled out the stops in the last year to bring high-spending visitors and international press back to Paris, staging six shows in a row in the French capital, including the recent cruise show in May.
For this Fall 2017 collection, the inspiration was clearly Parisian, with the Eiffel Tower’s flared silhouette structure, as well as its modernist respect for materials, inspiring Lagerfeld’s collection of shapely dresses and coats.
Though it was Robert Delauney’s painting of the Eiffel Tower that was on the show’s invitation, his wife Sonia’s circular paintings were the inspiration for some of the patterns in the collection. The swirling shapes of her work were rendered in sequins and crystals on a series of evening dresses in bronzy rose and ivory colours.
The key accessory seen throughout, and reminiscent of Coco Chanel’s favourite topper, accompanied most looks on the runway. The boater was created out of various tweeds and leathers to co-ordinate.
