CHANEL resort 2013/4

There is very little that can be said of Herr Lagerfeld that hasn’t been said already when it comes to his Chanel collections but here goes one more .. my take on the Resort/Cruise Holiday/ collection for 2014.

First, personally, I think Chanel is at its best when the color palette is restrained and by restrained I mean primarily black, white, ivory and cream … furthermore I am always pleased when the accessories are used with abandon especially the jewelry.  The cap toe classic is back and the bags take the back burner in this collection though I am sure there are jillions of them to make his ladies happy.

Secondly, there is no question that the collection is jacket and top focused which is what I guess will ring registers worldwide no matter the cost.  For me even the dresses, all the interest was the “over the table” as I am not a fan of those “gapped” skirts with that over panel detail … a straight across pencil skirt would have worked just as well in my opinion … for me it is gimmick for gimmick sake.  It should be noted that there are plenty of commercial and pure Chanel pieces as well that are tried and true.

Thirdly and then no more numbers... WTF are those men’s clothes?  For the label obsessed I am assuming they serve a purpose but from a fashion standpoint they are ”so what?”  I am guessing that if that label was on the outside of the jacket,  the lines would be out the door with every fey label whore in the world praying and aspiring  to own one …FIERCE!  You get the picture?

There are so many salable easily understood pieces on the face but what will set them apart is the excruciating amount of almost indiscernible embellishment and embroidery that seem to look as if it is fabric except the price will tell a much different tale.  The striated denim will cause the denim market to buzz, the pearls will push the fashion jewelry markets into a dither and the “diamante” and oxidized link pieces will be all over retail landscape by summer, not to mention the knit looking sweats and the off the shoulder “cricket” sweaters.  In other words it will be like a feeding frenzy with the vultures picking at their prey.

In a way, Karl is good for the economy and certainly for the business of fashion as he is a one man think tank... well that’s the way it appears to the public.  He and his team, which must be in the 100’s, fill the shows with innumerable ideas  and concepts that send design rooms,  from China to 7th Avenue, into a design inspired frenzy.

In the end, the collection  is nothing that will set the world on fire but it will manage to send the Chanel girls into a buying free for all  one more time and after all, the business is about selling clothes and he, unlike so many, delivers on that level more times than not.  If nothing else, Karl is not about the blah blah blah, he is about making a point and selling clothes...just done his way!