Chanel AW14

Initial reaction:

Supermarket sweep gone wild at the Chanel Shopping Centre. After last season’s comment on consumer culture with his Chanel curated art gallery, Lagerfeld has turned his attention specifically to shopping culture for AW14 – food over handbags, we hasten to add. The ‘set’ comprised of aisles and tables of every conceivable supermarket good, stamped with those interlocking C’s: doormats, cooking oil, onions… Apparently Lagerfeld has never stepped foot in a regular supermarket himself.

The look:

Stepford wives gone shopping in tweed jackets, lurex leggings and thigh high lace-up trainers. Silk headscarves were layered round the neck with tangles of pearls, and mega bling padlock necklaces. They carried Chanel shopping baskets interlaced with Chanel chain, black leather granny wheelie shoppers, and clutches that resembled vacuum-packed meat and egg boxes. Hair was dreadlocked in thick ponytails woven with beads and strips of fabric.

Consumer chaos:

As soon as the show finished – with the intercom announcement 'dear valued Chanel customers. The Shopping Centre is now closed. Please make your way to the exit' – everything turned to chaos. The audience began jumping on the displays, stealing everything in sight, and grappling over Chanel brooms in their pristine pastel Chanel tweed suits. We spied editors putting onions in their Chanel handbags, and taking bites out of carrots. As we left, Security Guards attempted in vain to recoup the stolen goods.

Stand out moments:

There are too many to list. Karl dragging Cara Delevingne through the supermarket like a petulant teenager for the finale, after she’d been spotted with a feather duster and bottle of cognac earlier in the show. Kirsten Owen and Stella Tennant having a chat whilst shopping during the show. Charlotte Frey with a chainsaw, casually walking through the shop. Soo Joo Park pushing a Chanel vacuum cleaner. It was surreal.

Soundtrack:

A mash up of pop culture favourites, including Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” and Rihanna’s “Diamonds”, as styled by Michel Gaubert. It felt like a firm nod to the chaos of consumer and instant-satisfaction culture we were witnessing before us. 

Models: Fei Fei Sun (@FeiFeiSunSun), Juliana Schurig, Kremi Otashliyska, Esther Heesch (@estherheesch), Nastya Sten, Edie Campbell (@ebcampbell), Sam Rollinson (@samrollinson), Anna Ewers (@AnNaEwer), Tabitha Pernar, Natalie Westling (@nataliewestling), Zuzu Tadeushuk, Ashleigh Good (@ashinstagood), Lindsey Wixon (@lindseywixson), Kid Plotnikova, Antonia Wesseloh (@antoniawesseloh), Shu Pei Qin (@Shupeiq), Binx Walton (@waltonleona), Grace Mahary (@gracemahary), Zlata Mangafic ( @zlatamangafic), Joan smalls (@Joansmalls), Nadja Bender (@nadjabender), Jarrod Scott, Amanda Wellsh.