Chanel: Merry go round mode
Godfrey Deeny

PARIS—Karl Lagerfeld, in a lighthearted moment, staged one of those schizophrenic collections only he is capable of, a mixture of saucy and sexy youthful ready-to-wear with over the top Pop Culture moments, before a huge crowd in the Grand Palais in Paris Friday. One could only admire the opening looks, a series of classic Chanel suits completely re-worked with frayed elbows, and mini skirts, none more beautifully than that on la mode’s sexiest current model, Behati Prinsloo of Namibia.
But we were at a loss with the lumpy, pocketed, long skirts, even as a wardrobe option. And quite why Karl elected to send out nearly every model in hosiery with the back of the legs in black and the fronts in geometric patterns was unfathomable, especially as they added four kilograms to every gal. However, there was a series of naval style chiffon dresses in black and white that would flatter any woman and take a few years of any one who wore them. And one had to love the faded torn mini jean skirts, the deliciously well cut battleship gray cocktails with pockets and an Aran sweater style dress that had cool and class in equal measure.
No one could fault the staging, where Karl threw together the world’s prettiest merry go-round featuring all the Chanel icons in gold, camellia, padded leather purse, Coco hat and pearl necklaces, where the casting took their places at the finale. “A great commercial collection. We can sell lots of these clothes,” enthused Eliana Piva De Albuquerque Tranchesi, president of Daslu, Latin America’s greatest fashion department store, and huge Chanel retailer.
That said, it seems apparent that even the preternaturally energetic Lagerfeld cannot always come up with the goods, given a brutal travel schedule last fall. We remember being with him on his triumphal Great Wall of China Fendi Spectacle, followed by a lengthy architectural photo assignment for the Hong Kong Chanel Mobile Art #1 magazine, a copy of which was placed on every guest’s seat, at a time when others designers were sitting working in Paris. Yves Saint Laurent: At Ease Futurism
In an age when the vast majority of designers are hired guns for fashion labels whose founders are retired in some considerable comfort, it was refreshing to see the exhilaratingly beautiful fall 2008 collection of Yves Saint Laurent, the happy result of creative director Stefano Pilati having the guts and the gall to really go for it. Part futurist vision, part dashing exercise in tailoring, this was as original a collection as you are likely to see, based on a wonderful new, broad shouldered, loose cut jacket, curvy, jodhpur like pants, worn over night club warrior patent leather boots.
One typically spectacular look wafted down the runway of the Grand Palais on model Olga Scherer, an asymmetrically cut biker jacket in a tough industrial leather with a chain mail choker and mega high brown velvet pants - a great head turning moment yet a completely credible fashion statement.