Forging a new folklore for Chanel

In a striking counterpoint to his politically-charged SS15 show which sent models rioting down the runway, Karl Lagerfeld turned to old-school Austrian grandeur for Chanel’s Pre-AW15 Métiers d’Art show. Set in an 18th century Salzburg palace (now a luxury hotel), the intimate salon-style show tapped into Austrian folklore, traditional dress and the regal splendor of the region’s days of empire, with Reincarnation, a film featuring Cara Delevingne and Pharrell, created to complement the collection. Models included Dazed cover stars Natalie Westling, Binx Walton, Jamie Bochert and Kendall Jenner, who closed the show arm in arm with Delevingne. The two marched past ornate golden doorways and antiquated bookshelves in matching hair bows and patent boots, while Lagerfeld’s godson Hudson Kroenig even donned a pair of lederhosen to walk hand in hand with his dad, male model Brad Kroenig.

Although the fantasy setting seemed a world away from the meticulously created faux supermarkets and Parisian boulevards that formed the backdrops of recent Chanel shows, Lagerfeld’s collection was nevertheless injected with hints of modernism. Thigh-high boots bound at the back and detailed metallic neckpieces brought a fetishistic quality, pulling the collection into the present – as did one of the opening shots of the film, which focused on Delevingne’s tattooed neck. It was the stuff of fairytales reimagined (or, indeed, reincarnated). 

See Reincarnation below: