The Chanel Show Stopper

Karl Lagerfeld referenced an aquatic theme at the amazing Chanel show that was nothing short of theater.  The Grand Palais was transformed by huge, blinding white sea shapes corals, shells, sea horses, stingrays—and Florence Welch arose like Botticelli's Venus on the half shell to sing "What the Water Gave Me."  Gorgeous.

Lagerfeld used light  fabrics with an iridescent mother-of-pearl shimmer to the collection. He also strung pearls, instead of belts, around waists. And Sam McKnight dotted pearls through the models' slicked-back hair, too.

Lagerfeld's aim was to avoid doing anything that was too "Chanel" because, he sagely noted, there are already so many other people doing that style. Still, he insisted on something that was recognizably within the codes of the house. So there were boxy tweeds, drop waists, mille-feuille pleats, a lot of prettiness in channeling an underwater theme into the traditional Chanel lexicon.

Also see the video of the show in the video gallery on front page.