CHANEL F22 AT THE PFW SCOTTISH RE-ENACTMENTS IN THE MODELS OF VIRGINIE VIARD

THE PALAIS ÉPHÉMÈRE EXHIBITION PAVILION HOSTS CHANEL WITH HIS F22 AND IS IMMEDIATELY FESTIVAL OF COLORS AND FABRICS WITH UNMISTAKABLE CARDED WOOL AND TWEED SQUARES

The collection that was designed to represent Scotland’s River Tweed. The region was well trodden by Gabrielle Chanel; company tradition has it that during her walks in the local countryside she collected flowers and plants as references for the colors she wanted from the fabric producers there.

Virginie Viard picked up that thread for fall and tweed was at the heart of her new collection. Since we were in the country, she used it on multi-pocket hunting jackets and coats that incorporated downy-looking fleece and for slightly oversized men’s jackets of the kind Chanel had snatched from her lover, the Duke of Westminster. In photos of her taken in her lodge in Lochmore and on the terrace of her country house in Eaton Hall, she is wearing her borrowed clothes and rubber boots. Viard evoked that weekend escape spirit with thick ribbed colorful tights and rubber boots or thigh-high boots printed with the famous double C’s intertwined. “There is nothing sexier than wearing the clothes of the person you love. I am fascinated by this always contemporary gesture “,

Viard’s former boss, Karl Lagerfeld, made more than just a reference to Scotland in his own work. A memorable Metiers d’Art destination show took him and his team to Linlithgow Palace. But that collection’s menacing romance has been replaced here with a brighter, more upbeat vibe, as has Viard’s bent. He has a good sense of how young women want to wear Chanel for every day, unpretentious and with a lot of ease.

Aside from River Tweed, Viard had things to say about city wear as well. “I was also thinking about 1960s England and very colorful record covers,” he said. Short tweed dresses drew on that energy as did a pair of leather petticoats. The shiny black kitten-heeled skimmers the models wore could give the cap-toe slingbacks so loved by the fashion crowd a run for their money.

GALLERIA

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