PFW SS14: Chanel combines runway glamour with the gallery

The theme spoke to futuristic takes on classic and youthful looks, including a graffiti of the CC logo on backpacks, charm bracelets, and airbrushed handbags. No doubt drawing influence from contemporary and street art, Karl Lagerfield raised the intersections of art and fashion to an entirely different dimension.

The show itself was a curatorial feat, combining runway glamour and gallery rationality to develop an environment of elegance and inventiveness. Lagerfield utilized the space to create a visual history by means of installations and canvas work that resonate with noteworthy happenings in the fashion house’s archives, including a colossal No. 5 perfume bottle and painted renditions of the CC logo.

Working with over 150 tonal shades for the spring/summer line, Lagerfield reminded us of the brilliance in color, the boldness of femininity, and how playfulness can maintain sophistication through metallic and quilted handbags, light-hearted accessories, and slouched socks paired with two-tone court shoes, preserving the zeitgeist of Chanel’s graces while always moving towards the next and new.