Chanel Sets Sail for New York City
"Philosophy is a big word,” Karl Lagerfeld said. “I’m just a designer.” It was only a couple of days after Lagerfeld had shown a new collection for Chanel, and he was dodging the topic he’s constantly called on to address by fashion tea leaf readers: inspiration.
When he sketches, he continued, he does so “for the garbage bin.” In other words, don’t read too much meaning into his interiors, his sets, his collections. “My secret is I don’t analyze. I don’t have the recipe to tell you,” he told T&C. “Most of the things I do quite well I see when I sleep. I always have a pad next to my pillow.”
Lately Lagerfeld has been dreaming of journeys, both physical and of the mind. In November Chanel is expected to make an entrance worthy of the Queen Mary in New York to unwrap its redesigned flagship on 57th Street.
And in December Lagerfeld will bring the Metropolitan Museum of Art to life with the Métiers d’Art collection, the annual showcase of the couture house’s specialty ateliers, like the hatmaker Maison Michel and the embroidery magicians at Lesage.
It is tempting to divine a subtext to Lagerfeld’s peregrinations, to imagine that he is intuiting our collective desire for escape from a turbulent world. But in the end he is a peerless showman. He set the stage for this fall’s transatlantic jaunts back in May, in Paris, when he docked a330-foot ocean liner in the Grand Palais for Chanel’s 2019 cruise collection (whose looks are featured here on the actress Ella Hunt-more on her below).
The grand diorama under-scored that inside that historic hall on the Champs-Elysées Lagerfeld is both couturier and auteur, master of the mise-en-scène.
Steam rose from two smokestacks, the crew flitted among three decks, and
a horn announced that departure was imminent. When the models emerged,with saddlebags dangling from haute rope straps (someone else would be doing the heavy lifting, natch), they were an immaculately attired parade of first class ticket holders ready to glide into a Mediterranean sunset, much as Coco Chanel did on her many trips aboard the Flying Cloud and the Cutty Sark, yachts that belonged to her lover the Duke of Westminster.
The clothes themselves were witty complements to the proceedings: flirty, nautically inspired tweed suits and Capri pants that seemed designed for a stroll past the surf, perhaps drenched in saltwater, or jewels.
The itinerant fashion show is de rigueur these days for the major luxury brands, because their in-between-seasons collections are so lucrative. But back in 1983, when Lagerfeld joined Chanel, he made cruise a regular part of his repertoire, even though these kinds of shows weren’t the media bonanza they are today.
The stylish cargo picked up in May by the imaginary ship La Pausa (the liner in the show was named after Coco Chanel’s villa near Monte Carlo) is to reach its destination in November, at the christening of Chanel’s Manhattan emporium, redesigned by Peter Marino, where the collection will take pride of place alongside a flotilla of exclusive product, including two one-of-a-kind crocodile handbags with diamond hardware.
Covering 14,000 square feet on six stories, with the fifth floor reserved for private shopping, the boutique is Chanel’s largest in the U.S., a clarion call from the epicenter of American retail. Conceived as the store’s pièce de résistance is a 60-foot pearl necklace in gilded glass beads by French sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel. Lagerfeld may be just a designer, but unlike other mere mortals he has the resources to make his flights of fancy come to life, to turn his imagination into brick-and-mortar realities the rest of us, if we’re lucky, step into every now and then.
Who's that Girl? In an eclectic series of projects, Ella Hunt displays a range of talents far beyond her years. "I’ve always loved playing dress-up,”says Ella Hunt. And while the actress admits to ransacking her mother’s vintage collection back in her native England, these days the clothes she’s trying on are more likely to come from a costume department than Mum’s closet. That’s because the 20-year-old Hunt, who recently moved from London to New York City, has found herself in seriously high demand. This month she’s starring in the movie musical Anna and the Apocalypse-a dark comedy that shows off her dramatic chops, singing voice, and dance moves-and she’ll also appear in the moody indie The More You Ignore Me. Plus, she’s currently filming a period comedy series about the poet Emily Dickinson for Apple’s yet-to-launch streaming network. All and all, it’s an auspicious start in America. If her projects seem scattershot, Hunt says that’s by design. “I want to feel like an actress who can do anything,” she says.“It’s about finding material that’s fleshed out and thought-provoking and real.” -Adam Rathe.
This story appears in the December 2018/January 2019 issue of Town & Country. SUBSCRIBE NOW
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